As Sunchon National University and Mokpo National University reached a surprise agreement on the night of the fifteenth and made an official announcement on the sixteenth to determine a brand new Jeonnam National Medical University, interest in the local people is growing.
With the intention to support this, as a part of the National Assembly procedure, on October 30, 28 National Assembly members, including Representative Kim Dae-sik (People Power Party, Busan) and Representative Kim Jun-hyuk (Democratic Party of Korea, Suwon), jointly proposed a whole revision of the 「Higher Education Act」.
That is the primary comprehensive revision attempted in 26 years because the enactment of the law in 1998, and its foremost purpose is to strengthen the autonomy of universities and support the creation of modern results.
the foremost contents of the bill to be revised, the premise for designation and support of an integrated national university is established. When two or more national or public universities convert right into a single university, the Minister of Education may designate the university as an integrated national university.
As well as, the state and native governments can provide administrative and financial support to integrated national universities vital for nurturing skilled manpower related to regional specialized industries and ultra-regional industries.
To this end, the Integrated National University Committee can be established to deliberate on vital matters corresponding to the mid- to long-term development plan of the integrated national university, and matters regarding the composition and operation of the committee can be regulated by Presidential Decree.
With the intention to strengthen the autonomy of universities by adjusting the supervisory authority of the Minister of Education, the guidance and supervision authority of the Minister of Education is reduced to cases where there are urgent and serious public interest reasons, thereby supporting universities to reply autonomously to rapidly changing environmental changes. Do it.
With the intention to expand student support, schools establish and implement scholarship, welfare, profession, and employment support policies for college students, and the state and native governments establish latest grounds to support these policies to support students’ stable school life.
As a strategy to establish a everlasting regulation discovery system, a private-centered council, including industry, local governments, and universities, can be formed to determine a system to find, deliberate, and judge on regulatory improvement tasks desired in the sphere.
the bill processing procedure, the bill was proposed (submitted) on October 30, 2024, and 28 members of the National Assembly jointly proposed the bill.
The proposed bill is reported to the plenary session of the National Assembly, and the bill is referred to the Education Committee, the relevant standing committee. The legislative notice period was held from November 1st to fifteenth.
In the longer term, bills that pass the Education Committee review can be referred to the Laws and Judiciary Committee for review. The Laws and Judiciary Committee reports the review results to the plenary session, and deliberates and votes on bills on the plenary session of the National Assembly.
In the ultimate step, the bill passed by the National Assembly is transferred to the federal government, and the president promulgates the bill and it becomes law. Through these procedures, your complete revision of the Higher Education Act can be processed.
Roadmap for university integration and integrated medical school promotion
the foremost procedures of the integrated medical school, each universities will apply for a preliminary accreditation evaluation within the name of the integrated medical school to the Korea Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation (Korea Council of Korea) on November 29.
Afterwards, in March of next 12 months, once the medical school quota allocation and preliminary certification are confirmed, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Education will confirm the brand new medical school establishment and quota allocation, and the Korea Pharmaceutical Council will announce the outcomes of the preliminary accreditation review.
Then, in May of next 12 months, the university admissions recruitment guidelines can be announced (Korea Council for University Education changes the university admissions implementation plan – late April 2025), and in March 2026, the integrated national university and national medical school can be opened to form an integrated national medical school. The primary academic 12 months begins.
The foremost process for university integration is for each universities to submit a ‘university integration application’ to the Ministry of Education on December thirty first of this 12 months, maintain each university’s unique characteristics, and be granted the legal status of an integrated national university.
To this end, it’s vital to revise the Higher Education Act and Enforcement Decree to supply a basis for designation as an integrated national university.
Integrated model features and process
▪ Loose integration model. While the 2 universities maintain their respective operating systems, they share the identity of an integrated national university. Major issues can be jointly reviewed through the Integrated National University Committee.
▪ Establishment of legal foundation. By revising the Higher Education Act and related enforcement ordinances, we are going to secure the legal basis for designation and operation of an integrated national university, making it the foremost link between the integrated medical school and university integration.
▪ Preliminary certification by the Korean Council of Medicine and allocation of medical school seats. Even before university integration, we cooperate in order that preliminary accreditation evaluation will be done within the name of the integrated medical school.
▪ Designated as an integrated national university. University integration strengthens the legal legitimacy of creating a medical school and supports the training of regionally specialized medical personnel.
▪ Schedule coordination after integration. For the reason that opening of the medical school (March 2026) and the completion of university integration must coincide, quota allocation and the mixing approval process by the Ministry of Education are vital.
This roadmap goals to determine a brand new national medical school and develop regional medical care based on an efficient and cooperative integrated model.
Reporter Yang Jun-seok kailas21@aitimes.com
