hankyoreh

By Lee Moon-young　

As tuition at local universities continues to increase, university students who oppose the tuition increases are planning to conduct an all-out struggle in April and May with the goal of cutting tuition in half.

Led by the National Tuition Network, a gathering of about 550 groups, the movement has also won support of local civic groups. Together they hope to pressure politicians to begin focused discussions during the April special session of parliament to launch a half-price tuition program during the second semester at the earliest.

The planned schedule of events begins with a one-person demonstration relay that kicked off with a press conference by the National Tuition Network at 11 a.m. today. The solo demonstrations will take place in front of Cheong Wa Dae until tuitions are cut in half, according to the group.

Park Ji-eun, the chairwoman of the Korean University Students’ Association and head of the students’ association of Sookmyung Women’s University, is the first demonstrator, starting at noon. In addition to the students, groups working with the National Tuition Network like the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, the National Association of Parents for Cham Education, the Korean Teachers & Educational Worker’s Union and the Korean Professors Union will also take turns holding solo demonstrations.

Students energies are especially focused on demonstrations slated for April 17, 19 and May 1. On April 17, students will engage in a March of 10,000 Bows. The 10,000 bows will be divided amongst all those attending. In the Buddhist tradition, one bow will be made for every three steps, with the individual pain lessened by the large number of participants. On April 19, to mark the 61st anniversary of the April 19, 1960 Revolution, students will hold a marathon under the slogan “Realize half-price tuition.” On May 1, a delegation of student leaders, including the chairwoman of the Korean University Students’ Association, will shave their heads to demand that tuition be cut in half as soon as possible.

Park said the critical point has arrived when they cannot delay dealing with this issue any longer, with students reportedly dying because of high tuition fees. She said students can only shave their heads, bow and run, but she believe that through these actions, students can inform their fellow classmates and citizens of the seriousness of the problem.

Students are already using all means at their disposal to block tuition increases. Leaders of the student associations of Sogang University, Duksung Women‘s University and Woosuk University have shaved their heads, Korea University students have occupied the university’s main hall, and Ewha Womans University students are boycotting chapel classes, a requirement for graduation. There are also students going on hunger strikes.

Sogang University student association chairman Kim Jun-han, who began a hunger strike on Monday, said students have organized a general students association for the first time in 22 years and united their voices, but the school has yet to budge. He said the only thing to do now was to conduct an open-ended hunger strike with the student associations of the university‘s individual colleges.

Kim Su-rim, the head of the general students association of Duksung Women’s University, said student interest had grown after student leaders cut their hair. She said she’s received signatures demanding tuitions be lowered from about 2,000 of the university’s roughly 6,000 students, and she plans to hand these signatures to the school on Wednesday or Thursday.

To support the demonstrations, the National Tuition Network and the Youth Unemployment Network are also planning a cultural festival organized around the issues of half-price tuition and youth unemployment at Marronnier Park in Hyehwa-dong on April 30.

An Jin-geol, the head of the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy’s social economy team, said if universities apply different tuition reduction rates to students according to income, they could raise an additional 4 trillion won in financial resources, making possible a substantive half-price tuition policy.

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