Universities scramble to deal with Chinese students

Graduates and guests at a Korea Maritime and Ocean University graduation ceremony in Busan wear face masks, Wednesday, amid the global scare over the fast-spreading new coronavirus. /Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

Universities here are scrambling to deal with their Chinese students who are set to return to Korea for the new semester that begins March 2, amid the spread of a new coronavirus in China, according to school officials, Thursday.

The officials expressed concern of the possibility that the students could bring the highly-infectious virus with them, raising the possibility that campuses could become the epicenter of any outbreaks here.

Korea University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) and other schools in Seoul have already closed their Korean language institutes temporarily amid growing fears of the virus spreading on their campuses.

According to the Korean Education Statistics Service, the number of Chinese nationals studying in Korea was 69,287 as of April 2019, or 43.3 percent of the 160,165 international students. Kyung Hee University had the largest number of Chinese students with 4,727 enrolled last year, followed by Sungkyunkwan with 4,189, Korea University with 4,184, and HUFS at 2,666.

“Detailed measures have not been decided upon yet as the spring semester begins in March, but we are seriously considering the cancellation of orientation programs, which are planned prior to the first semester, and other events for freshmen,” a HUFS official said.

The university also sent three text messages to all its students and faculty members, asking that anybody who had visited Wuhan during the winter vacation not to come to school for 14 days, and reminding them to maintain personal hygiene by wearing face masks and using hand sanitizers.

Korea University has also taken similar measures including the cancellation of large events for freshmen. The school also posted guidelines to prevent infections on its homepage, advising all students and school employees who have visited China or shown any symptoms that could be caused by the virus to seek information from the health authorities.

“Basically we are following the education ministry's recommendations to protect our students. However, no detailed plan has been decided on yet.” said a university official.

Busan University of Foreign Studies recently sent an e-mail to 600 international students who went to China during the holidays asking them to postpone their arrival at the university until after February. This is the first time that a university had implemented a measure to delay the entry of international students.

Pai Chai University canceled its exchange student program with schools in China for this semester. Currently, 185 students from China are attending the university.

Education Minster Yoo Eun-hae held an emergency meeting with university officials at the Government Complex in Sejong, Thursday, to discuss measures to deal with their students including international ones from China.

The education ministry's move comes amid growing concerns over the large number of international students including Chinese nationals attending universities in Korea who will begin to enter the country this month after the Chinese Lunar New Year, ahead of beginning of the spring semester next month.

In the meeting, the ministry requested that faculty and students who have returned to Korea after visiting Wuhan in China, the outbreak epicenter, to stay home for a minimum of 14 days after their arrival in Korea. The request applied to students and staff of not only universities but also kindergartens, and middle and high schools across the country.