Dongguks Reform Plan Faces Opposition
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Dongguk University’s reform plan faces opposition ahead of its implementation next month. About 30 students occupied an administrative office on Tuesday night and called for the school to halt the plan.
Since Oh Young-kyo, a former minister of government administration and home affairs, took charge of the school from March, he has prepared significant reforms under the ``108 Project.’’
The project includes integration of some 60 departments into two or three umbrella schools and a reduction in the number of new students in order to improve competitiveness.
However, the students are opposing the change saying the school is proceeding with the project arbitrarily and ignores their opinion.
Some of the protesters are worried that unpopular studies would disappear in the long run due to the integration. ``We understand that a university needs reform and innovation to survive. However, a university is also a place to learn various studies,’’ Ahn Hong-seung, a student representative of the North Korean Studies Department told The Korea Times.
``If different studies departments are integrated, students cannot study specific subject in depth. Also, unpopular majors will disappear,’’ Ahn said.
However, the school spokesman denied the students’ claims and said detailed plans on the project have not been confirmed yet.
The school will make its final reform plan by the end of the month and apply it from next year.
As universities face a shortage of students, a growing number of schools have given up unpopular majors and reduced their quota for new students.
The trend has caused a ``crisis in humanities studies’’ at many Korean universities. To tackle this, the Education Ministry plans to invest about 400 billion won over the next 10 years.