Dozens Of South Korean Professors Resign, Protests For Additional Quota For Medical Schools

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JAKARTA - Dozens of professors of medical schools at Gyeongsang National University in the south of Jinju city, South Korea, volunteered to step down from the administrative position at the school in protest at university's request to increase the quota for admission of their medical school.

Earlier this week, Gyeongsang National University proposed additional medical school seats to 200 out of 76 current seats, as the government conducted a survey of how many slots each university wanted before allocating 2,000 seat quotas the government decided to add.

Before proposing an increase, the professors of medical schools expressed their objection to the increase in meetings with the university's chancellor, but their opinion was not accepted, "a medical school official said as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, March 6.

The 12 professors volunteered to resign from administrative positions, such as the dean, deputy dean, and head of department, in protest over the university's decision.

Two other professors also submitted their resignations as professors, who reportedly protested the government's decision to increase the quota of medical faculties.

Earlier this week, the government announced 40 medical schools across the country submitted additional 3,401 additional admissions seats, much higher than the government's plan to add 2,000 seats from the current 3,058 seats starting next year.

The day before, the association of professors from 33 medical faculties filed an administrative lawsuit against the minister of health and education over an attempt to cancel the planned increase in quotas.

The professors who participated in the decision had to be overturned, because it was announced by the South Korean Minister of Health who did not have the authority to determine the university admission quota.

They also stated that the plan, which was made without consultation with professors of medicine, interns, and students, was a violation of the legal process guaranteed by the Constitution.