Medical Students' Leave of Absence Applications: 646 'Mass' Rejections... 382 Applied Yesterday

The number of medical students who submitted valid leave of absence applications under university regulations in protest against the government's policy to increase medical school admissions has increased by 382. However, the cumulative number of valid leaves of absence decreased as one medical school rejected about 600 leave applications.

According to the Ministry of Education on the 27th, a survey conducted the previous day targeting 40 medical schools nationwide found that 382 students from 6 schools applied for valid leave of absence.

A medical school in Seoul on the 20th, when the results of the increased medical school admission quota distribution, which triggered conflicts between the medical community and the government, were announced. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The number of leave applications rejected by one school was counted as 646. A Ministry of Education official explained, "The school that rejected the leave applications is confidential," and added, "Whether to reject leave applications is determined by the university itself, so the reasons for rejection are not separately identified."

Since the number of rejections exceeded the number of applicants, the cumulative number of valid leave applications decreased to 8,967 from 9,231 the previous day. This accounts for about 47.7% of the 18,793 medical students enrolled nationwide as of April last year.

A valid leave application is one submitted following procedures stipulated in the university regulations, such as parental consent and department head's signature. Until last month, the Ministry of Education counted all leave applications submitted by students regardless of compliance with procedural requirements, but from this month onward, only valid leave applications are being counted.

The Ministry of Education's position is that even if a leave application meets formal requirements as a 'valid leave,' leave for the purpose of a solidarity strike is not a valid reason and should not be approved. Accordingly, the Ministry explains that there have been no cases where leave was approved for solidarity strikes.

On the previous day, class boycotts were confirmed at 8 universities. Medical students have been boycotting classes since the 20th of last month as their leave applications were not processed. Consequently, there is a possibility of a 'mass repetition' situation due to failure to meet the required number of class days under university regulations. According to most medical school regulations, if a student is absent for one-third or one-quarter or more of the class days, an F grade is given, and receiving an F grade in even one subject results in repetition of the year.

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