[Letters] Mortgaging students’ dreams

These days, students have little room for celebration when they pass the university entrance examinations because it means years of being chained by skyrocketing tuition fees.

Students who cannot afford the fees anymore have taken the issue to the streets. They wanted to make people know how bad they are hurting by having their heads shaved in protest. They urged the Lee Myung-bak administration to fulfill his pledge of halving tuition fees. However, nothing has changed. Just a few days later, they were forgotten.

I think the biggest reason for the conflict between schools and students is the opacity of how their tuition fees are spent. Students don’t know any details concerning how their fees are used, so it’s natural for them to feel somewhat doubtful.

One more problem is the puzzling rise of student loan interest rates. Some students cannot afford it, so they end up with problems on their credit records.

I think the government and schools do not fully recognize the seriousness of this problem. Newspapers and television reports frequently focus on high tuition fees. But schools as well as the government are silent and make no response.

I think they should at least show us the efforts they are making. Policies like deferred payments or partial payment of tuition fees, or some way that takes into consideration students’ financial situation are needed. We should not let student’s dreams be mortgaged.

Shin Su-in, Yongin, Gyeonggi