Seoul, Feb 26 (IANS) The South Korean government has raised the possibility of scrapping a controversial increase of medical school admissions for next year, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, as it seeks to resolve a prolonged dispute with trainee doctors.
Education Minister Lee Ju-ho met with the deans of medical schools earlier this week and said he may consider setting an annual admission quota of 3,058 for 2026, down 2,000 from this year, if the medical students currently on leave return for the March semester, according to government officials and medical sources, Yonhap news agency reported.
For more than a year, the government and trainee doctors have been in dispute as the government hiked the number of medical school admissions by 2,000 starting from this year. No concrete agreement was reportedly reached during the meeting.
“It was a tug of war between the two sides as the deans said they would try to persuade the students if the quota is frozen, while the education ministry questioned whether freezing the quota would actually guarantee their return,” one of the deans said.
The Korean Medical Association (KMA) dismissed media reports that Lee had informally suggested a freeze to the association, calling it a “media ploy.” Meanwhile, medical students have hinted that they will continue their leave of absence whether or not the government proposes an enrollment freeze.
“I already submitted my leave of absence,” said a medical student on leave. “The fact that students submitted their leaves of absence, even with the possibility of the quota hike being scrapped, means students are refusing to return.”
Thousands of medical students have taken a leave of absence in protest of the government’s plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000, as part of a broader initiative to raise the total by approximately 10,000 over the next five years to address a shortage of doctors.
–IANS
rvt/
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
