Students End 150-day Protest Over For-profit Campus

Students end 150-day protest over for-profit campus

Students of Seoul National University protested for five months over plans for a branch campus which would be funded by raising projects required under government reforms to reduce university dependence on tuition fees. Students agreed that the campus had no academic vision but a clear business plan and demanded the university repeal the contract as students were not consulted over the major change. The protest came to an end after the university administration turned a water hose on the students the day after president Park was dismissed from office. The main party currently in opposition, the Democratic Party of Korea, has said it will review former president Park’s higher education reforms which have led to new for-profit ventures by universities.

The Guardian wants to hear your story

There has been a significant increase in the number of students seeking for help from their universities because of mental health issues. Anixiety and depression became serious issues among the students and it needs to be tackled. Great deal of pressure certainly does not make it easier for them. In many cases, universities do not always have the best resources to help. The Guardian would like to hear your story, and know whether you recieved the help you needed, what was the response of your university, and did you need to take your time off in order to recover. If you want to take part in this survey, you can do it by clicking on this link. 

Drop in teacher training recruits revealed

The latest figures show the number of trainees dropped for 7% this year and head teachers’ leaders said the drop in recruits would deepen the teacher recruitment crisis. The Department for Education said there were more teachers than ever before in England’s schools. It said it had devised schemes to ensure new teachers stayed in their jobs in those areas that have a poor record of retaining teachers. Because of the high turnover in the profession, schools in England need to recruit about 30,000 new teachers every year to stand still. Malcolm Trobe, acting general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “There are severe teacher shortages in schools across the country, particularly in maths and science.Schools have to rely upon supply staff and non-specialists to teach many classes.” He urged the government to address the issue urgently and make teaching a more attractive career option. Liberal Democrat education spokesman John Pugh said the recruitment crisis was of the government’s making. ”Half baked schemes to desperately lure people into teaching do not and cannot compensate for the demoralisation of existing staff.”

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