Nursing school blamed for age discrimination

By Lee Kyung-min

A private nursing school in South Chungcheong Province has been given a “warning” from the National Hunan Rights Commission (NHRC) for discriminating against a 57-year-old transfer student on the basis of age.

The student, whose name was withheld, entered the school on March 1 to achieve her dream of becoming a nurse, but had to quit school 10 days later after a meeting with the dean of the school, where she was told that she caused friction among the students “because she was too old.”

The NHRC refused to disclose the name of the school, citing its privacy protection rules.

According to a complaint she filed with the NHRC, during a one-on-one meeting with the dean on March 4, the dean told her, “I am getting calls from professors and students complaining about your age. They say they are being put in an uncomfortable situation because of you. No professors want to take you in.”

The dean added, “We cannot allow you to have mandatory hospital training along with other students, since the hospital would not feel comfortable about having you as a trainee.”

The woman protested, but nothing changed.

She had to quit school on March 10, and reported the case to the NHRC.

The agency launched an investigation, and concluded that the school discriminated against the woman.

It said, “The school violated the National Human Rights Law, which bans any sort of discrimination based on sex, religion, age, disability, or educational background.”

The NHCR added that the school had to try to resolve the issue, since the school had already accepted the woman as a transfer student.

It said, “Even if it has been culturally okay to treat students differently based on their age, the dean, as an educator, should have taken a different approach. And instead of being on her side, the dean discouraged her. That led to her decision to quit school.”

It said other school faculty members are also responsible, too, and recommended that they all take human rights education courses.

The school gave the woman a full refund of her tuition.