SOUTH KOREA: KAIST criticised after student suicides

The president of South Korea's top science university is fighting to save his job after a string of student suicides sparked fierce criticism of his controversial reforms and a government audit accused him and other officials at the institution of financial and administrative violations, writes David McNeill for The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Nam Pyo Suh was forced last week to set up an emergency committee of professors and students at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, or KAIST, to deal with what the Korean press is calling the worst crisis in the university's four-decade history.

Observers say the crisis will leave Suh with no option but to put the brakes on some of his tough new policies at the state-financed institution, including a system that penalises poorly performing students.
Full report on The Chronicle of Higher Education site