| More students are calling on universities to remove or ease dormitory curfews. / Courtesy of Seoul National University |
By Kim Jae-heun
More students are calling on universities to remove or ease dormitory curfews.
According to Sookmyung Women's University, Sunday, its student council conducted a survey on the school's dormitory curfew system and 88.7 percent of respondents said the restriction was unnecessary.
Based on the results, the student council is in talks with school management over whether to scrap the curfew.
Sookmyung is not alone in dealing with the issue.
Yonsei University's student council also carried out a survey on the dormitory curfew in June, with 67.6 percent of respondents in favor of abolishing it.
The student body shared the results with the school and it agreed to ease the regulation during the examination period ― first at its Songdo campus in Incheon.
Yonsei University Student Council President Park Yo-han said deciding when to go home was a basic right that all adults should have and the student body will strive to abolish all curfews.
Hongik University's student council also conducted a survey on extending the dormitory curfew by an hour and submitted the results to the school authorities demanding the change.
Seoul National University (SNU) and Korea University (KU) have already repealed the curfew system.
Graduate students at SNU requested the move in the late 1990s as there were many students majoring in natural sciences and engineering who often had to spend nights doing experiments and research.
Undergraduates demanded the same condition apply at their dormitories and by the early 2000s the SNU curfew system was abolished.
KU dropped some curfews after the student council requested the move because of discrimination between domestic and foreign students. At the time, the curfew only applied to Korean students.
The school decided to revoke the curfew for the men's dormitory in 2013 and the women's dormitory in 2016.
The students argue that forcing adults to keep to curfew times was excessively controlling. However, schools say the system is necessary for lower dormitory maintenance costs and student safety.
Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will make guidelines for universities on their curfew systems for future students. It has invited school staff and experts in the field to establish a taskforce to draft guidelines.