[Report] "Bomb Passing Style Stigmatization"... Final Rejection of Sungshin Women's University, Students 'Furious'

Ministry of Education Finalizes Basic Competency Assessment Results
52 Universities Including Seongshin Women's University and Inha University Fail
Students Say "Irresponsible Stigma Must End," "We Will Not Give Up and Stand Together"
Seongshin Women's University States "Students Suffer Most... Will Respond Firmly"

A banner condemning the Ministry of Education's university competency evaluation results is hung at the main gate of Sungshin Women's University.
Photo by Kim Seohyun @ssn3592

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seohyun] "We cannot agree with the Ministry of Education's bomb-passing style stigmatization."

The Ministry of Education finalized the results of the '2021 University Basic Competency Diagnosis' (Basic Competency Diagnosis) on the morning of the 3rd. Among the 52 universities that failed, 11 universities in the metropolitan area, including Sungshin Women's University, Inha University, and Sungkonghoe University, were included. Students expressed their outrage, saying they could not understand the decision.

At Sungshin Women's University Sujeong Campus sports field on the same day, Choi (23), a nursing student, expressed strong doubts about the Ministry of Education's decision, saying, "I think they should present evaluation criteria and grounds that students can accept. That is our right to know," and appealed, "I feel that the Ministry of Education is recklessly selecting universities in a 'bomb-passing' manner. This chain of harm must be broken."

On the same day, the Ministry of Education, the Korea Educational Development Institute, and the University Structural Reform Committee (Structural Reform Committee) finalized the preliminary results of the Basic Competency Diagnosis announced on the 17th of last month as they were. As a result, the 52 universities that failed, including Sungshin Women's University, will no longer be able to receive national treasury budgets amounting to tens of billions of won annually.

Kim Gyuwon, chairman of the Structural Reform Committee (professor at Kyungpook National University), held a briefing at the Government Sejong Complex in the morning and said, "We have reconfirmed that the Basic Competency Diagnosis was conducted fairly and validly," and "The final results are confirmed to be the same as the previously announced preliminary results." In response, students of Sungshin Women's University expressed that they were "flustered and speechless," showing that many students at the university are very interested and will continue their struggle.

Kim (21), a student who visited the school to work as a student worker, said, "It's absurd and confusing," and added, "I have never felt ashamed anywhere while attending school. Our school was even recently selected as a target for the Private School Innovation Support Project promoted by the Ministry of Education. I cannot understand this decision."

Sungshin Women's University students' solidarity activities carried out since the resolution announcement on the 17th / Photo by Sungshin Women's University students

Earlier, students had carried out various student solidarity movements to overturn the preliminary results announcement. The Emergency Committee of the Student Council held a 'Live Broadcast Condemning the University Basic Competency Diagnosis Preliminary Results' from the 17th of last month when the preliminary results were announced. Some other students held a 'relay one-person protest' in Gwanghwamun, Seoul.

Students expressed their opinions through post-it notes on school buildings until the date before the semester started, and shared the hashtag '#Sungshin_wants_Sujeong' on social networking services (SNS) such as Twitter to show solidarity. Also, students skilled in video editing uploaded videos condemning the Ministry of Education's announced preliminary results on the school's YouTube channel.

Choi emphasized, "The Ministry of Education might have expected that students would lose interest after the semester started by only looking at the visible situation, but not only students but also alumni, professors, and staff members are all interested in this decision. As a student, I hope this is never ignored."

Students plan to continue their struggle. Jang (24), an art major, said, "The Ministry of Education did not even clearly disclose the evaluation criteria," and appealed, "It feels like we were slandered without sufficient grounds."

Jang added, "Until yesterday, I participated in signing a petition for an audit request. The school united and tried their best to change the results until the end, which is really regrettable. However, we will not stop here and will continue to work to correct the results."

On the 30th of last month, the Emergency Committee of the Student Council at Sungshin Women's University organized a group protest at the Suseok Campus sports field, gathering four entities including the Faculty Council, Staff Labor Union, and Alumni Association. / Photo by Sungshin Women's University student

Meanwhile, Sungshin Women's University stated that it is difficult to accept the Ministry of Education's decision and that it will respond after gathering opinions from its members.

The school claimed, "It is difficult to accept not only the Ministry of Education's standardized evaluation method but also the objection process," and added, "Due to the non-selection for general financial support this time, the university has suffered long-term significant damage such as limitations in financial support and damage to the university's image, while the objection process was conducted within a very limited scope, raising many doubts about fairness and transparency."

Yang Bokyung, president of Sungshin Women's University, said, "In an educational environment that emphasizes autonomy and creativity, the biggest victims of the standardized evaluation that does not consider the characteristics of the university are our students," and added, "We will strongly respond after gathering opinions from members to restore the damaged honor."

Regarding this, the Ministry of Education explained, "Whether to accept the objections submitted by each university was finalized through a three-stage review by the Objection Handling Subcommittee, University Diagnosis Management Committee, and University Structural Reform Committee," and "It was conducted according to the pre-established diagnosis criteria and procedures, and it was reconfirmed that it was conducted fairly and validly."

They added, "The universities that failed this time were only excluded from the general financial support project, but there are no restrictions on applying for other financial support projects or on eligibility for national scholarships and student loans."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.