[단독] Universities that left a large ‘class budget’ in Corona 19 … “Tuition reduction required”

Amid high public opinion that Corona 19 violated the right to study, it was confirmed that the royal universities left a significant amount of the established budget for online classes, field training and international exchange.

On July 2, college students initiated a request for information disclosure on online conferences at universities across the country, along with ‘Angry People’ and ‘Information Disclosure Center for a Transparent Society.’ A total of 23,593 people participated in the project, which ended on August 18, and information disclosure requests were ongoing for 109 universities. Angry People is an online joint lawsuit platform.

The reason for the information disclosure request is to confirm the ‘illegality’. According to the Ministry of Education directive ‘Rules on university tuition fees’, the exemption or reduction of tuition is possible when the curriculum fails. Most of the lectures for the first semester of this year were replaced online, but tuition reimbursement is not required because the curriculum has been operated.

Angry folks and the Information Disclosure Center decided that the method of recklessly filing a return claim was hard to win. Then, the representative (lawyer) of the angry people said: “If so, we have to consider compensation for damages, but there must be illegality to claim compensation for damages. If you receive information from the school, you can see the actual status of the conferences. I thought it would help prove the requirement of illegality. “

First semester field training and return of international exchange fees
The items requested by students and angry people from each university are: ▲ Rules, guidelines and operating guidelines for online conferences ▲ Status of operations for online conferences for open classes ▲ Online progress of open classes Map check ▲ Budget and actually organized for online conferences Executed budget details ▲ Field training support fee, international exchange support fee budget and execution details set for the first half of 2020 .

As a result of the Kyunghyang newspaper, most of the universities that released the information were unable to use half of the budget set for online conferences, field training, and international exchange expenses. As of August 27, out of 109 universities, there were 30 information disclosures, 25 some disclosures, and 15 private disclosures.

First, the budget execution related to online conferences. Busan University of Foreign Studies executed only 160 million won (45%) of 361 million won, and Gyeonggi University also executed only 161 million won (45%) of 373 million won. Dong Seoul National University also executed just 44.5 million won (42%) of the 160 million won budget. On the other hand, the budget execution rates related to online lectures at Yonsei University and Nazarena University were high at 80% and 84%, respectively.

Unused budget is also an issue, but some colleges aren’t budgeted properly in the first place. Wonkwang University has set a budget for the first semester related to online lectures at 4.5 million won, but the execution amount is 190 million won. In response, Wonkwang University said: “The budget was set in the same way as the previous year, and the rest of the budget was urgently set and put into operation due to the spread of Corona 19.” Gyeongin Women’s University also has no budget, but 110 million won was executed. Baekseokdae also revealed only 173 million won in performance details without a budget.

In response to this, Lawyer Park Jae-cheon (Lawyers Park Jae-cheon and Hong Hyun-jin’s Law Office) said, “There are several universities that have sent a reply that the budget has not been set at all, but there are a problem”. In this situation, it can be argued that the planned online classes cannot be carried out. “

The cost of field training and international exchange continued to exceed the budget for online conferences. Regarding field training expenses, Yonsei University spent 42 million won (26%) of 160 million won. Busan University of Foreign Studies spent 94 million won (43%) of 220 million won, and Dong-Eui University spent 490 million won (26%) of 1.9 billion won. Sangmyung University spent 100 million won (32%) of the 310 million won. Baek Seok-dae didn’t spend a single KRW 130 million on field training expenses.

As for international exchange expenses, Yonsei University spent 34 million won (35%) of the 140 million won on scholarships for exchange students. Baekseokdae spent 36 million won (19%) of 18.9 billion won, Dongui University spent 34 million won (50%) of 67 million won, and Sangmyung University spent 22 million won (9%) of 270 million won. The Busan University of Foreign Studies did not spend a single international exchange fee of 86 million won. On the other hand, Sungshin Women’s University showed a high execution rate at 47 million won (75%) of the 63 million won.

College students “must reduce tuition for the second semester”
If so, is it possible to return the registration? Lawyer Park said: “It is still difficult to judge from the data disclosed so far, but if a lawsuit is filed based on the content of the information release request, it appears that the amount will have to be set differently for each university. or department “. Departments with a high proportion of on-the-job training or international exchange will be more advantageous.

In the past, there have been cases where college tuition has been returned. A representative example is the “tuition reimbursement lawsuit” brought by 50 Suwon University students against the school corporation, the president, and the president. In July 2013, the students filed a lawsuit requesting a refund of tuition, saying, “The school’s finances are very good, but the educational environment has not improved. The Supreme Court raised the hands of the students in July 2018. With the ruling, Suwon University returned 300,000 to 900,000 won to the students who participated in the lawsuit.

As public opinion grows that tuition should be repaid, colleges are adopting a method of returning hundreds of thousands of won to students on behalf of Corona 19 scholarships and support funds. Kim Da-young, 19 year old, who is a freshman at a university in Seoul, also received a refund of 100,000 won for the first semester, 100,000 won for the second semester, and a total of 200,000 won on behalf of Corona 19’s support.

Regarding this, Mr. Kim said, “I was able to give up the ‘free pass’ by paying 200,000 won to the organization’s site in high school, but the university is a 3 million won organization, but the quality is not good. “, said. Lawyer Park also said, “It is to avoid the responsibility of returning it this way,” he said. “Universities already knew that face-to-face classes in February in the first semester would be difficult. It is normal if the enrollment of the first semester has been reduced and the enrollment of the second semester has to be reduced.”

The Network of the National Association of University Students surveyed 2,951 university students throughout the country from August 12 to 16, and 93.7% of the total responded that if the non-face-to-face classes are focused on the second semester, they should be reinstated tuition fees. The reason for the need to reduce enrollment was “It is difficult to accept the enrollment rate established on the basis of face-to-face classes” (70.4%) and “The facility cannot be used” (70.4%).

The Angry People and Information Disclosure Center will file an objection against schools that are partially open or closed, and will proceed with a request for administrative testing if the objection is not met.