By Na Jeong-ju
The ongoing government-led college restructuring program won’t satisfy everyone, but should be regarded as “growing pains” the country must get over to create better higher education institutes, Education Minister Lee Ju-ho said Wednesday.
He dismissed allegations that the methods the ministry adopted to rate universities were not fair, saying there will be rigorous tests for non-viable, poorly-managed schools in order to expel the worst ones.
“Our evaluation standards may not be perfect, but they were fair and objective,” the lawmaker-turned-minister said in an interview. “We set up the standards after gathering opinions from all concerned schools. But some poorly-rated schools are criticizing us now. Their behavior is not understandable.”
The controversy over the ministry’s assessment criteria was also an issue of hot debate at a National Assembly audit of educational policies Monday. Opposition lawmakers questioned the fairness of the evaluation, saying some colleges were being victimized by the ministry’s “reckless” push for restructuring.
Early this month, the ministry announced a list of 43 private universities that won’t get state subsidies next year, sparking a flurry of angry reactions from some of them.
They claimed in a joint statement that the ministry used the same criteria, including the employment rate of graduating students, for the evaluation of all types of colleges, which was therefore discriminative against art schools.
Religious universities were also up in arms. Fifteen of 21 religious colleges nationwide were put on the roll for boycotting the government’s surveys for evaluation.
“Universities must change,” said Lee, a former professor at the state-run Korea Development Institute. “One of the Lee Myung-bak administration’s key policy goals is to enhance their overall competitiveness to meet the needs of parents and students. That’s why we are concentrating on restructuring colleges.”
The government’s move to weed out substandard schools is tied to its tuition-cut drive. The education ministry plans to spend 1.5 trillion won ($1.4 billion) next year on expanding scholarships to students from not only low-income families but also middle-income households, which officials say will effectively cut the average college tuition by 22 percent.
“Competitive schools will receive more support, but there will be no support for hopeless schools,” he said.
Since the 50-year-old Lee took the helm on Aug. 30 last year, he has taken a series of bold initiatives to reshape the educational sector. The ministry started the World Class University and the World Class College programs to nurture globally competitive universities and vocational colleges.
In the same vein, he is trying to change the way students learn English. Officials say once the National English Ability Test (NEAT), a state-administered proficiency exam that focuses on evaluating speaking and writing skills, is implemented next year, it will bring about revolutionary changes in English education here.
“Once the new test is put in place, we will see whether it can replace the English section of the college admission test. We will decide on that next year,” Lee said.
On top of that, the ministry activated after-school programs at elementary schools in close cooperation with regional education offices in a bid to relieve household spending on private education. It has also chosen the so-called Meister schools that focus on technical education and apprenticeships, in which students can develop expertise in such fields as shipbuilding, mechanical engineering, semiconductors and medical services.
Through such programs, the government is seeking to diversify education for teenagers in a country where parents spend massive sums of money on private tutoring to send their children to a handful of top universities. According to the latest OECD survey on education, Korea marked the highest spending by the private sector on public education among 34 member nations for the 11th consecutive year.
“Korea is internationally known for education zeal among parents. Even U.S. President Barack Obama has repeatedly commented on educational enthusiasm here,” Lee said.
“But the education fever has produced side-effects, such as the test-oriented school system and the heavy reliance on private tutoring. But that’s what enabled Korea’s rapid economic growth and made what it is today. We should be proud of that.”
With a proven track record as an innovative educational policymaker and a hard-working, silver-tongued legislator of the conservative Grand National Party, Lee has drawn much attention from the political sector as well. That’s because he has the potential of becoming a political big shot.
Asked if he intends to run in the general elections next April after quitting as minister, he said, “No I don’t. That’s not on my mind as of now. I will just do my best in this position.”