hankyoreh

By Lee Seung-joon

Kyung Hee University made the decision to lower the rate of increase in its tuition fees this year from 3 percent to 1 percent, and to use the 1 percent hike toward scholarships for low-income students and support for campus cleaning workers and hourly lecturers.
The university issued an announcement Friday that a decision framed around this content had been made by its tuition policy committee and registration fee deliberation committee. In accordance with the decision, the university plans to return to the students an amount corresponding to two-thirds of the 3 percent increase in tuition they have already paid. It also plans to apply half of the 1 percent hike to scholarships for students from the near-poverty class whose government benefits are being cut off, and the other half to be used as a support fund for campus irregular workers (cleaning and security staff) and hourly lecturers. Meanwhile, the Kyung Hee University student council held its first general student meeting in six years Thursday and approved the plan with 1,895 of the 12,821 registered students in attendance.
The school and students also agreed to establish a task force to discuss matters such as a resolution to the course registration request issue and improvements to the operation of the student restaurant.
“We plan to continue having these discussions with the students in the future in order to develop progressive and rational plans,” the university said.
This decision by the school is to receive final confirmation following discussions with the academic affairs committee and board of trustees.
On March 22, the university and students held an open debate featuring the participation of school representatives, students, and outside civic organizations, providing an occasion for narrowing differences in opinion through discussion of the tuition increase issue. During the debate, the school made a proposal to students regarding the establishment of a research task force for improvements in the registration fee system, with the participation of professors, students, staff, alumni, and outside experts, as well as a “statement to society for financial support to universities.”
The National Civic and Social Group Network for Countermeasures on Registration Fees, whose members include the Union of Korean University Students and People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, issued a statement Friday saying, “The decision is a beautiful statement in which the student council and school showed a spirit of sharing and solidarity.”
They added, “This decision will offer many suggestions to other private universities where students are suffering because of registration fees.”

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