Nursing, Veterinary, and Dental Evaluation Agencies Also Demand "Withdrawal of the Medical Evaluation Institute Certification Standard Revision"

Concerns Over the Ministry of Education's 'Undermining Independence and Autonomy of Accreditation Bodies'

Educational evaluation institutions in the healthcare sector urged the government to withdraw the legislative notice on partial amendments to the Regulations on Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions, so that evaluation and accreditation tasks can be carried out fairly.

On the 29th, six institutions affiliated with the Korea Health and Medical Personnel Evaluation Association?the Korea Nursing Education Evaluation Institute, Korea Veterinary Medical Education Accreditation Institute, Korea Pharmacy Education Evaluation Institute, Korea Medical Education Evaluation Institute (의평원), Korea Dental Education Evaluation Institute, and Korea Korean Medicine Education Evaluation Institute?issued a statement expressing this position.

These institutions perform the task of evaluating curricula in accordance with regulations on standards, methods, and procedures by establishing basic policies and implementation guidelines for evaluation and accreditation to improve the quality of higher education in each field under the Higher Education Act.

Last month, the Ministry of Education announced a legislative notice on the amendment bill, which mainly provides a supplementary period of more than one year to medical schools before the Medical Education Evaluation Institute (의평원) issues a non-accreditation decision if academic operations are not conducted normally as they are now. The bill also includes provisions requiring prior review by the Ministry of Education when accreditation bodies like 의평원 change evaluation and accreditation standards, and extending the validity period of existing evaluations and accreditations during gaps in accreditation bodies.

These institutions evaluating higher education courses in the healthcare sector stated in their statement that they "deeply worry that the amendment bill will undermine the independence and autonomy of accreditation bodies." They emphasized that "evaluation specialized institutions have conducted the entire process fairly and transparently based on accountability and expertise until making the final judgment."

They further argued, "We demand the withdrawal of this legislative notice so that healthcare sector evaluation specialized institutions can continue to perform evaluation and accreditation tasks fairly as independent bodies and fulfill their responsibility to ensure the quality of higher education."

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