[The Public = Daniel Park] The problem is that the pressure to adjust the quota has a greater effect on rural areas. The decrease in the school-age population has a greater impact in the provinces than in the metropolitan area, and the new student recruitment rate index for competency diagnosis is also affected by the decrease in the school-age population.
In addition, the phenomenon of concentration on universities in the metropolitan area, a long-standing concern of local universities, is still present. The fact that the recent reports of abolishment of university departments are from local universities also confirms this.
Not only logical reasoning but also statistical prediction shows the same result. According to a report on “Provincial Universities Fostering Plans to Overcome University Crisis” released last year by the University Education Research Institute (Daekyo-yeon), it was estimated that among 220 regional universities, not one of them would have a new student enrollment rate of more than 95% in 2024. It was predicted that one out of three regional universities would fill less than 70% of freshmen. There are even concerns that one in ten regional universities may not fill half of the new students. On the other hand, it was predicted that 119 universities (94.4%), excluding seven, would fill more than 70% of universities in the metropolitan area during the same period.
Lim Eun-hee, a researcher at Daekyo Research Institute, argued that it was necessary to force the reduction of the quota of large universities in the metropolitan area. In fact, it is a part of the ‘University Reform Project’ implemented by the Roh Moo-hyun(former President) government as part of the local university development policy. At that time, the government consolidated the national universities into nine universities by 2009 and reduced the admission quota of large-scale universities in Seoul, such as Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University, and Sungkyunkwan University, by more than 10%.
Researcher Lim said, “It is necessary to reduce the quota of all universities in the metropolitan area and regional universities comprehensively. The Roh Moo-hyun government implemented a quota adjustment policy by providing financial support to large universities in the metropolitan area when they reduce their quota by 10%. It is a time when such a policy decision is necessary for balanced regional development and improvement of the quality of university education.”
A number of local university officials also argue that the 'metropolitan transfer school' should be abolished. University officials in the Gyeongbuk and Gangwon regions said, “In addition to the quota for universities in Seoul and metropolitan areas, the limit on the number of applicants should also be considered. If the current situation continues, the concentration of students in the metropolitan area will intensify.”
In particular the ‘recruitment reservation system’ is also mentioned as an alternative. When the university deems it necessary, it is a plan to temporarily suspend the recruitment of some vacancies, and then re-enroll as much as the original quota at a desired time. There are certain departments that are not currently recruiting well due to sudden circumstances such as Corona 19. It is clear that it can’t be a reason to close a department because it is difficult to recruit now, and there are departments that have the potential to be fully recruited in the future.
There is also a suggestion that, if closing is unavoidable, measures to minimize the damage to teachers and students of the department that have been decided to close should be discussed. Hwang Hong-gyu, secretary general of the Korea University Education Association, said, “It is also necessary to consider a plan to transfer teachers from closed departments to a nearby university or a special transfer system that allows students of the relevant department to move to a similar department in a nearby university to continue their studies. "Currently, universities are feeling the pressure of having to maintain departments until all existing students graduate after school closes," he said. He continued, “It is also necessary to support training for teachers in closed departments. However, major change training for university professors is not yet supported,” he explained.
There are also many voices that expanding financial support for higher education is the most fundamental solution to the crisis. Park Jung-won, chairman of the National Teachers' Union, said, "The adjustment of the university's quota stems from the financial crisis. If the government invests the education budget in higher education, even at the level of the average of OECD countries, it will be possible to survive as a university institution even with a smaller quota, and the research conditions of professors, working conditions of staff, and study conditions of students will be guaranteed.”
Kim Byung-guk, director of policy at the National University Labor Union, also said, “Even though elementary, middle, and high schools were affected by a decrease in the school-age population earlier than universities, they did not close schools. Rather, the quality of education has been improved by reducing the number of students per class,” he said.
[Image by Yonhap News]
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