After Pusan National University (PNU) introduced the electronic certificate (E-certificate) issuance for a "fee," PNU students are aggressively complaining. PNU students are gradually feeling pressure when it comes to the fee as the demand rises.

PNU added the E-certificate issuance to the existing internet certificate issuing system last October. This system was to move towards the direction of the “paperless” flow, which refers to saving paper, as the student support system changed to the “Next Generation Smart Education Information System.”

However, the problem is that, unlike the current existing enrollment issuance system that is free, the E-certificate issuance charges a fee. If the students want to use the E-certificate issuance system, to download a PDF file, they must pay 3,000 won. After issuing the E-certificate, printing is available for 30 days, and the E-certificate expires in about three months.

Even though it is unaffordable, students are in a situation where they must pay, saying, “I had to bite the bullet.” Scanning or showing the paper document cannot gain recognition from the reception desk. In line with valid enrollment issuance, it is necessary to have the encrypted PDF file with the government agency’s certification.

The reason for the E-certificate issuance’s charging implementation is to pay the fee to the outsourcing agency of the related technologies. An official from the PNU office of Educational Affairs said, “The cost of building a school’s certificate system and using outsourcing agencies for 10 years is similar. It will cost billions of won to add functions to get certification from government agencies, and it will take more than two years to develop this system.” As the demand for E-certificates increases, it is very difficult to progress with a lot of budget and time.

The issuing fee of the E-certificate is used as an agency fee paid to the outsourcing agency “Certpia.” PNU does not receive any of the fees. According to the ‘Regulations Concerning the Various Certificates Issuance of National Schools’ section 2, national universities cannot receive fees for the 13 different types of certificates available, with the exception to the enrollment issuance, student transcripts issuance, certificate of school register issuance, and expulsion issuance.

Except for three universities in Busan: Dong-Seo University, Dong-Eui University, Silla University, the remaining ten universities use the same outsourcing agency as PNU. An official from outsourcing agency Certpia said, “The fee of the E-certificate issuance depends on each university, but the fee is more than 3,000 or 4,000 won. Certpia is an internet issuance agency, so reducing or getting a discount on the fee is unavailable.”

Students are considerably concerned about being charged for the issuance of E-certificate. It is unfair not only to pay the extra fee to certify the enrollment even though the students have paid the tuition but also that students must bear all the fees. A PNU graduate school student A (21) said, “It is a problem that we must pay a fee to use a service that the school must provide. I think the school must take the basic IT service off my hands by establishing an internal system, not assigning to the agency.” Lee Ha-Neul (22) said, “I have issued an E-certificate recently, and paying all of the fees gives me an emotional burden, even though it is not an actual burden.”

Many students are still complaining about this issue, but PNU does not offer any alternatives. An official from the PNU office of Educational Affairs said, “We are planning to use the system further through the outsourcing agency for the foreseeable future because the demand for the paper document issuance is overwhelming.”

Reporter Choi Sun-Woo

Translated by Choi Ye-Won