Education minister urges medical schools to finalize admission quota hikes
Education Minister Lee Ju-ho speaks during a video conference with university presidents, May 20. Yonhap
Education Minister Lee Ju-ho urged medical schools Monday to finalize the revision of their admission regulations in accordance with the government's medical school enrollment quota hike, following a recent court decision in favor of the plan.
Lee made the call during a video conference with the presidents of 40 universities that operate medical schools, the first such meeting since the Seoul High Court rejected an injunction last week, sought by the medical community to halt the plan to increase the annual medical school student quota by 2,000 seats, starting next year.
"Revising regulations in accordance with the government's decision to expand the medical school enrollment quota is a duty each university is obliged to fulfill under the law," Lee said.
Out of the 32 medical schools allocated with increased admission slots, only 15 have revised their school regulations to reflect their changed quotas so far. Some of them, however, are facing resistance from medical students fiercely protesting the quota hike.
"Since the judiciary acknowledges the necessity of a medical school quota hike for public welfare, I urge universities to revise their regulations accordingly," Lee noted.
The minister also said that the revised regulations will be approved by the Korean Council for University Education, a private association of four-year universities, next week, urging the university presidents to publicly announce their admission plans for 2025 by the end of May.
The completion of these processes, the education ministry said, will finalize the medical school enrollment quota hike, making it irreversible. (Yonhap)