Nationwide medical schools plan to report the status of disciplinary actions regarding students who have not returned by the 7th, along with future plans, to the Ministry of Education. As of the end of last month, when the deadline for students to return was, the class participation rate is about 26% after all medical students registered and returned. More than 70% of the rest may face a disciplinary action.
According to the education sector on the 6th, the Ministry of Education is expected to receive details on the academic probation criteria (tentative) for students who have not returned from nationwide medical schools, the number of students likely to be put on probation, the date for the academic probation review committee, and the number of students to be notified of their probation (tentative) by the 7th.
Previously, the Ministry of Education sent an official document to 40 medical schools nationwide containing this information. They requested final decisions regarding the status of disciplinary actions against students who were absent from classes by the end of last month, the probation cut-off date, and academic operations.
It has been reported that the class participation rate is 26% after all medical students registered and returned by the end of March.
Five medical schools have already sent notifications to a total of 1,916 students who have been absent for more than one month as of the 2nd, in accordance with their academic regulations. The numbers are as follows: Soonchunhyang University 606, Eulji University 299, Inje University 557, Chonnam National University Medical School 190, and Konyang University 264.
The Ministry of Education stated that although the end of last month was the deadline for probation, if a medical student expresses intent to return by the 7th, the decision will be left to the schools.
However, unlike disciplinary actions, probation allows medical students to maintain their status. Therefore, there are predictions that the likelihood of students who received a probation notice returning is not high. As of the end of March, more than 70% of students expected to be on probation are among the 10.
Medical schools schedule classes by academic year rather than by semester, so if a student is put on probation this time, the earliest they can return will be the 2026 academic year. For freshmen from the 2024 and 2025 classes, they will have to take classes alongside the new freshmen from the 2026 class next year.
The Ministry of Education plans to publicly announce the probation status of each university after the 9th.