By Choi Dong-ho
Chung-Ang University (CAU) has caused fierce conflicts among faculty members and students by reorganizing its departments of studies.
CAU and Doosan have decided to integrate 77 of its departments into 47, and this newly organized system is going to be introduced from 2011.
More and more universities are allowing enterprises to take part in their management with the purpose of enhancing competitiveness, but the consequences of the infiltration of capitalism into the field of study remain uncertain.
I would like to mention three negative aspects that make me skeptical about the commercialization of universities: loss of the identities of universities; the deterioration of education quality and some problems that possibly occur in the long term.
Firstly, the identity of universities will be severely damaged if they are commercialized. If enterprises, of which ultimate goal is to make profit, take part in management of universities, it’s obvious that they will center on fostering students who will make profits for them regardless of the fact that universities are where students should build their own thoughts and personalities through learning.
Moreover, the commercialization of universities could decrease democracy in campus, as companies that take over the universities tend to run them for their benefit.
For instance, the president of CAU will no longer be elected by its own members, but by the board of directors of the Doosan group. This indicates that universities will become appendages of companies in the end.
Secondly, the commercialization of universities could deteriorate the quality of education. This is because professors would very likely focus on the research that is sponsored by enterprises, rather than focus on the studies or lectures as they are.
On the other hand, due to the increasing percentage of classes that are lectured in English, students have difficulties understanding the lectures because of the language barriers.
For example, I’ve been taking a Korean history class in English because it’s easier for me to get a high score, but I have found that it’s very difficult to understand the sequence of Korean history because both the professor and the students are not proficient enough in the language of instruction. It’s true that these changes certainly affect the quality of education.
Finally, the commercialization of universities will lead to tremendous losses to the nation in the long term. Given that practical studies are all derived from fundamental studies, they have very significant roles as the root of studies.
However, fundamental studies which can’t make profits in the short term are being overlooked as universities are becoming commercialized.
Furthermore, this trend makes people focus too much on landing on a job and it weakens the creativity of students, notwithstanding that it’s considered one of the most important elements for students to be successful. These situations would finally lead to huge losses in the long term.
In sum, commercialization of the universities might cause the loss of universities’ identity, deterioration of the quality of education, and eventually it will lead to huge losses to the nation in the long term.
A renowned Japanese sociologist, said that capitalism is the best system human can devise, but I don’t think that it can always be the perfect choice in every situation. I believe that we should not let capitalism infiltrates into the realm of education.
The writer is studying English literature and language at Chung-Ang University.