National Assembly to act on college fee cuts

The National Assembly plans to vote on the controversial “half-priced tuition” policy during the plenary session in late June, the head of the parliamentary educational committee said Monday.

“There is no difference between the ruling and opposition parties in discussing the half-tuition measures at the National Assembly. I’ll submit the issue for a vote at a general session,” said Rep. Byun Jae-il of the main opposition Democratic Party.

This month’s special session of the National Assembly is underway and plenary meetings are scheduled for June 23, 29 and 30. A nonpartisan public hearing is also slated for this week with all stake-holder groups in attendance, Byun said.

On Monday, opposition lawmakers continued their offensive against the government and the ruling Grand National Party, calling for specific measures to relieve the tuition burden.

Rep. Kim Young-jin of the DP reaffirmed that the half-tuition policy was one of the key pledges made by President Lee Myung-bak and the GNP.

Rep. Kwon Young-gil, floor leader of the minority Democratic Labor Party, also urged the government to spend more on higher education.

“Government subsidies of 6 trillion won ($5.5 billion) can cover half the total college tuition of 13.5 trillion won,” he said. “Last year, the budget for the four-river restoration project was 22 trillion won but the nation’s finances didn’t crumble.”

On the specific timeline of government measures, Education Minister Lee Joo-ho said, “The discussions will continue until the end of the month.”

“After a public hearing held by the GNP, we will discuss the issue in meetings on June 21 and 22,” Lee said.

With a massive audit on public and private universities announced Friday by the Board of Audit and Inspection, he said there had been no prior consultation between the state auditor and the Education Ministry.

“When it comes to private schools, the state auditor cannot launch an inspection without the cooperation of the Education Ministry. We need more discussions,” he said.

Amid ongoing controversies over the half-tuition policy, President Lee Myung-bak ordered a “calm and careful approach” Monday when he presided over the Cheong Wa Dae staff meeting.

“(About the college tuition issue) there should be no hurry, and take time to make alternative measures carefully,” Lee said.

“Once the government establishes a wrong policy, the whole nation could shake.”

“We should check what problems our higher education has and how the government can support them. We also should consider the public sentiment. And then, we should come up with general and multidimensional measures,” he said.

Korean college students and their struggling parents have long complained about the nation’s notoriously expensive tuition fees ― the second-highest among OECD nations behind the United States.

Last year, the average annual university tuition fee reached 7.5 million won ($6,918) for private schools and 5 million won for public schools here.

The GNP proposed a new half-tuition scheme last month to halve tuition fees targeting the students in the bottom 50 percent of the income bracket. The benefits would become unavailable, though, if the students fail to get an average grade point of B or higher in the previous semester, the party said.

Criticizing the GNP plan, based on a budget of 2 trillion won, as lip service ahead of next year’s presidential election, students and civic groups have demanded that at least 6 trillion won be earmarked to cover half the total tuition fees of the nation’s 4.4 million college students.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)