Ewha Womans University officially announced the abolishment of the credit cancellation system on April 1. However, the school will take interim measures during the fall semester of 2014 and discontinue the system completely in 2015.
The credit cancellation system was first implemented in the spring semester of 2005. It was used to help students find employment or receive scholarships and to aid students who had failed withdraw their courses. However, due to the request of the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Korea Council for University Education (KCUE), examination into abolishing the credit cancellation system began. Through consideration by the University Council and a vote at a meeting on academic affairs, a decision was made to discontinue the system.
“In December 2013, the KCUE sent official documents to each university demanding improvement of the credit cancellation system, which in effect made the abolition of the system inevitable,” said Kang Hak-su, an official of the Registrar’s Office. “In addition, as all other universities are also joining in on the abolishment, maintaining the system on our own would give social impression that Ewha is managing an uninstructive grading system. This would result in a decrease of credibility in the school’s grades, ultimately further damaging students.”
Some students agree with the decision.
“I am actually quite in favor of abolishing the credit cancellation system,” Sim So-yeon (English Education, 1) said. “Of course the system makes students’ grades look better when they are seeking jobs. However, I think students would not study as hard due to the decrease in competitiveness. Also, it would make the concept of grades meaningless.”
Other students expressed a negative reaction toward the change.
“I do not think it is a good idea to abolish the system,” Lee Joo-bin (Clothing & Textiles, 3) said. “The abolishment of the credit cancellation system will force students to attend courses they do not like instead of allowing them to erase bad grades.”
As an interim measure, the school will make two periods available for students to cancel their credits before the system is completely abolished. Students who entered Ewha before 2013 may cancel up to six credits just once, either from Sept. 22 to 24, 2014, or from Feb. 23 to 25, 2015. Unlike the previous rules, during this period, students do not have to meet the conditions of needing to have completed at least six semesters and not being able to apply if they are taking the semester off.
“The abolition of the credit cancellation system may be confusing for students,” Kang said. “However, in the long-run, it will motivate students to be more cautious when registering for courses and to attend classes with more responsibility and fidelity.”