Colleges protest restructuring drive
By Na Jeong-ju
Dozens of professors at Uiduk University in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, and Pai Chai University in Daejeon have tendered their resignations to protest the government’s designation of the schools as “substandard” private colleges, school officials said Wednesday.
The action represents a growing backlash among schools over the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology’s ongoing college restructuring drive.
On Friday, the ministry announced a list of 43 non-viable private schools ― 23 four-year universities and 20 vocational colleges. They won’t be able to get state subsidies next year, and be forced to streamline their organizations. The ministry plans to close the worst ones that fail to meet the ministry’s requirements for reform.
The blacklisted schools included some large universities in Seoul, such as Kookmin and Sejong.
Some of the schools questioned the authenticity of the ministry’s evaluation of colleges.
“The ministry used the same evaluation criteria for all types of schools. One of its key criteria was the employment rate of graduating students,” a Kookmin spokesman said. “Our school has earned a good reputation and has strengths in many other fields. But the ministry failed to consider it when evaluating our school. It is unfair to label us as an uncompetitive school.”
A group of professors at Uiduk University submitted their written pledge to quit to the school’s president after an emergency meeting. In a statement posted on the school’s homepage for alumni and students, the professors said, “The government labeled our school as an uncompetitive, poorly-managed school. We are feeling great responsibility for that.”
The ministry plans to choose the non-viable schools that would face financial restrictions annually. Last year, the ministry didn’t provide subsidies to 43 private colleges and five state-run schools.
The association of presidents of private colleagues issued a statement to call on the ministry to disband its panel spearheading the restructuring drive. It alleged that the committee is not qualified to rate colleges because it is mainly composed of professors tied to private enterprises, saying its assessment criteria are biased and unfair.
The college restructuring is the centerpiece of Education Minister Lee Ju-ho’s tuition policy. The ministry is seeking to spend more than 1.5 trillion won this year to cover tuition cuts at colleges, while cutting subsidies for underperforming and poorly-managed schools.
“Our principle is simple. Competitive schools will receive more support, but there will be less support for underperforming schools,” a ministry official said.
The official said the ministry will weed out underperforming schools, saying student enrollments at colleges may decrease by 40 percent in a decade from the current levels.
Among other reformative measures, it plans to introduce a merit-based wage system for professors, abolish the direct election system for presidents of state-run colleges and initiate various competition-oriented programs at schools. It also seeks to oust school owners and managers who were found to have misappropriated school funds and engaged in other corruption activities.
The ministry is now under pressure to secure a big enough budget to fully cover tuition cuts. By reducing subsidies for uncompetitive colleges, it wants to achieve two goals: resolve a budget shortage and enhance the overall competitiveness of local schools.