The state human rights watchdog said Sunday that it has started an investigation into the punitive tuition system at Korea Institute of Science and Technology following recent student suicides at the school.

The minority New Progress Party filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission on April 8, claiming that the tuition system, under which students pay different amounts of fees based on GPAs, violated the rights of students.

“In principle, a university may be able to discipline low-performing students. However, at KAIST, which is tuition-free, it is an unreasonable discrimination to impose fines due to low grades,” the party said in its written appeal to KAIST president Suh Nam-pyo.

The commission requested the school submit documents related to its management, an official said.

“We would first look into the management style of the state-funded university,” said the official.

“If the school abolishes the measure, any action would not be necessary. But because the situation seems flexible for now, we will be watching the school’s response.”

There have been some cases in which the state watchdog has issued orders to high schools that run classes for top-graded students or limit the entrance to study rooms based on grades.

However, this is the first time that a university will come under inspection for its grade-based system.

Since January, four KAIST students have taken their own life.

Many people within and outside the school have claimed that the school’s competitive environment may have in some way led to the deaths.

After the last death on April 7, the school announced it would scrap the tuition system for the first eight semesters and reduce the number of classes delivered in English ― the two most controversial issues.

On Friday, the board directors of KAIST met to discuss the school’s follow-up measures but did not come to any agreement saying that more opinions need to be gathered within the school.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)