Universities Asked to Be Prudent in Accepting Foreign Students
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has ordered universities to be more prudent in their recruitment of international students.
The move comes as cash-short provincial universities are allegedly managing foreign students poorly _ giving admission to those who don't meet requirements, testing Korean proficiency perfunctorily and giving good grades despite absences.
According to the ministry, many deficit-ridden schools have accepted foreign students to balance their budget, while the students use it as a means to get a job here. It said insufficient laws regarding international students has incited the abuse of system.
Universities failing to follow the ministry's instructions will face restrictions on recruiting foreign students.
``We will give priority to raising the quality of students in future policies regarding attracting foreign students,'' the ministry official said.
The ministry checked on foreign students at 345 universities nationwide and investigated 25 of them.
At 12 universities, between 75 and 94 percent of their international students dropped out of school last year.
Immigration authorities apprehended ten Chinese students enrolled at a university in South Chungcheong Province last December. They had paid 8-10 million won ($6,300-7,900) to brokers for fabricated high school diplomas and transcripts to get into Korean universities. They were caught working at a nearby industrial complex instead of attending school.
Another six Chinese students were caught for helping voice phishing criminals defraud residents of some 700 million won last August.
In May, Gimpo Police Station told foreign students there not to lend their bank accounts to strangers and to abide by their visa status.