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| Students at Ewha Womans University protest against the school's plan to establish a night college for workers, on the school campus in Seoul, Sunday, the fourth day of a sit-in. / Yonhap |
By Kim Bo-eun
Around 100 students at Ewha Womans University continued their sit-in for the fourth consecutive day Sunday in protest against the school's plan to establish a night college for workers in 2017.
Hundreds of students initially began the sit-in after school officials refused their demand to scrap the plan during a meeting between them and student representatives, Thursday.
With the sit-in, the protesters blocked four professors and a school worker from leaving the meeting room for 46 hours. Then school officials requested police intervention and around 1,600 policemen were mobilized to suppress the protesters and took the professors and the worker out, Saturday.
Some students sustained injuries amid the scuffle and another was taken to hospital after showing signs of dehydration amid the sit-in in the hot weather. After the scuffle, about 100 have kept on with the protest.
The night college is part of the education ministry's plan to help the financial difficulties of universities which face a substantial decrease in the number of students amid a low birthrate.
The ministry will provide 3 billion won to selected schools for the project. At Ewha, a night college named the Light up Your Future in Ewha (LiFE) is set to be established for those who chose to work after graduating high school instead of going to college or women who have been unable to return to work after marriage or giving birth.
Majors of the college will be fashion, health and new media. Students will be provided the same bachelor's degree as regular students.
In a statement on Friday, the school said the plan will benefit women in the workforce who have not had the opportunity to attain higher-level education. "Studying after gaining work experience will also contribute to enhanced professionalism in the female workforce," the school said.
However, Ewha students criticized the school for trying to "make money by selling diplomas."
They say existing colleges have similar majors and that the school has a separate life-long education institution with a similar purpose.
"We can only see the school as attempting to earn more money through the new program," the student council said.
Students also say creating majors in fashion and health will reinforce gender stereotypes.
In addition, they are concerned that the night college will negatively affect the image of the top women's university here. They say it would be unfair for "less competitive" students to be offered the same opportunity as students who have to obtain high college entrance exam scores to study at Ewha.
Students have started collecting signatures for the plan to be scrapped.
"We are angered by the school's decision-making process, which excluded the student body's opinions on the plan," the council said. "We will continue our protest until the plan is scrapped."
The school said while the plan was part of a long-term vision drawn up in 2014, the actual discussions on the plan with the ministry resumed in mid-May, and it was required to submit the plans in June. "This did not allow us time to discuss the matter with students," it said in the statement.
It said the school has undergone the proper procedure for the project such as discussions among faculty leaders and the school's board of directors.
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