The ‘Military Reserve Force’ was established in April, 1968 and continues to this day. Of the approximately 2.75 million military reserve forces, 19% (510,000 people) are student reserve forces. The student reserve army has been excluded from mobilization drills since 1971 in consideration of the right to study, and participates in basic training of 8 hours per year. However, if the training schedule and school classes overlap, the reserve forces student, who must participate in the training, must skip school classes and go to training. In this situation, the question continues to arise as to whether the student reserve forces are properly guaranteed their right to learn. With CAH, let's take a look at the various problems that student reserve forces bring and what students think about them.
1. Backgrounds of Student Military Reserve Force
Student reserve forces are military reserve forces who are attending school, and they must do 8 hours of training per year. It is against the law to treat students unfairly who cannot attend classes due to reserve forces training. Article 39 Paragraph 2 of the Constitution stipulates that ‘No citizen shall be treated unfavorably on account of the fulfillment of his obligation of military service’, and in particular, Article 10 of the Reserve Forces Act states that 'No head of a high school or higher educational institution may give disadvantage to students being mobilized or trained as a member of reserve forces, by regarding the period of mobilization or drill as days absent from their duties, or on account of their mobilization or their drill.' These articles declare that citizens fulfilling their national defense obligations should not be discriminated against legally and should be treated fairly. However, many student reserve forces are not guaranteed their right to learn in practice, when they are absent from class due to training, and they usually do not receive learning materials from professors.
2. Problems Between Military Reserve Force and the Right of Education of Students
a. Unfair Treatments That Student Military Reserve Force Are Going Through
In ‘Everytime’, an online community of Chung-Ang University (CAU) students, questions about absences from reserve forces training continue to appear, and most of them are “If I miss classes because of the reserve forces, do I need to find someone to ask for the content or progress of the class?” These are comments expressing concerns about learning deficits due to the training. Many students have a hard time because schools do not actively propose solutions for the academic gap caused by attending reserve forces training for students who fulfill their military duty. Regarding this, an official from the Military Manpower Administration said, “Since the provision and reinforcement of class materials are under the jurisdiction of the school, we cannot force them. However, if the student reserve forces were treated unfavorably without a justifiable reason, there will be punishments for this.” However, Lawyer Choi Young-Gi said, “What can be considered legally disadvantageous treatment means a situation such as receiving an F grade due to non-recognition of attendance,” in response to the Military Manpower Administration’s answer. “Although it can be a problem, it is difficult to see it as illegal,” he said, pointing out the problem with the treatment of reserve forces students. In other words, while the Military Manpower Administration considers the provision of class materials to be a matter under the jurisdiction of the school, and the school leaves responsibility at the discretion of the professor, there is a blind spot in the law, so the actual right to education of the student reserve forces is not guaranteed. Students who had been trained in the reserve forces even before COVID-19 raised the issue about it, but as the training has resumed after COVID-19, these issues came to the fore again.
b. Reaction of CAU Students
Student A at the Department of English Language and Literature at CAU said, “If I am going to attend military reserve forces training and will be absent from class, and I tell this to the professor in advance or send an e-mail, he/she will take care of my attendance, but I think it is only formal action. In order to know what the class was about that day and which part was emphasized, I need to have the contents of the class or at least the materials, but most professors don’t seem to provide that.” In addition, student B of the Department of Applied Statistics said, “Considering the tuition fee for each semester, if I am absent from class due to unavoidable circumstances such as participating in the training, and I still do not get the class materials, it is very unfair.” Regarding this, Kim Hyung-nam, director of the Center for Military Human Rights Korea, argued in support of the students saying, “Acknowledging only attendance is a passive measure. Ensuring the right to learn is not an area that should be left to the judgment of individual professors, but something the school authorities must take responsibility for.”
c. Cases of Other Schools Where the Right to Study for Reserve Forces Was Not Guaranteed
Cases in which the right to learn of student reserve forces were not guaranteed can be found in other schools as well. On July 6th, 2022, a professor at a national university in Busan posted a notice saying that students who were absent from class due to training would not be recognized for attendance, but then reversed his position when controversy arose. The professor said, "It seems that there was a request through the school headquarters to recognize the reserve army training as attendance, but for any reason, it will not be recognized as a reason for attendance." Also, at one university in Seoul, a student asked the professor, “I’m sorry, professor, but do I have any documents to send to the professor regarding absences due to reserve army training?” and the professor firmly replied, “No. You are just considered as being absent.” As such, there were cases in which students who were required to participate in training and who could not change the training date arbitrarily were treated unfavorably. However, under the current law, this is illegal, and in case of violation, principals or professors can be sentenced to up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won.
3. Position of CAU Towards Student Military Reserve Force
About the guarantee of learning rights for the student reserve forces, an official from CAU said, “Reserve force training is a leave-of-absence due to military service obligations, and it is treated the same as other events such as sickness, COVID-19, and funerals for relatives. CAU recognizes the attendance of students who miss classes due to reserve army training, but it is not easy to issue guidelines such as forcibly telling professors to provide class materials or giving notices.” In addition, Professor A of CAU said, “I provide lecture notes and in the case of zoom, recorded lessons through E-class for all students to see freely. Special efforts should be made to guarantee the right to class because the reserve army training is a public absence that performs its duty to the country unlike other types of absences. However, it is necessary to find a consensus on the following complex issues through public deliberation. The first is, how will CAU see the problem of fairness with other kinds of absences? In addition, the composition of these materials differs depending on the course or operation method (collaboration-oriented classes such as discussions, experimental practice classes, lecture-oriented classes, etc.). Therefore, it is not easy to decide which materials to provide and how to provide them. Lastly, unless it is institutionalized in the form of guidelines from the Ministry of Education through public debate, it is not easy to mandate a specific method at the individual school level.”
In order to ensure that there is no unavoidable disadvantage to student reserve forces, there is a voice that it is most reasonable for professors to understand the situation and provide class materials to students. In other words, it is desirable to operate classes based on trust between professors and students rather than scrutinizing administrative regulations. Regarding this, a professor at Hanyang University said, “Even without being forced by regulations, instructors can provide sufficient class materials to students who cannot attend class, and if the student asks a question about the class they are absent from, professors should faithfully answer the question. I think we should help students participate in class.” CAH hopes that CAU will try to ensure that the learning rights of students who have no choice but to attend classes due to reserve army training are guaranteed as much as possible.
