Kim Jong-in "Education Inequality Must Be Resolved... Why Is the Democratic Party, Which Advocates Equality, Silent?" (Summary)

Kim Jong-in Points Out Issues in Higher Education Quality and Talks About Resolving Educational Inequality

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Lee Ji-eun and Lim Chun-han] Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the United Future Party, proposed establishing a Higher Education Deliberation Committee within the National Assembly to bring changes to university education. This expands the discussion from full-day childcare and full-day schooling to higher education. He also emphasized resolving educational inequality and criticized the ruling party's silence on the issue.

At the Emergency Committee meeting held in the National Assembly main building on the morning of the 11th, Chairman Kim stated, "The current education system is entrenching inequality, and the private education market is growing, thereby undermining public education."

According to Kim Eun-hye, spokesperson for the United Future Party, Chairman Kim said at the meeting, "Currently, there is much anxiety and concern among the public before and after COVID-19, and perhaps the greatest concern is educational inequality. The ladder for social mobility is disappearing, and the gap between rich and poor is being passed down. Above all, the Democratic Party, which claims to advocate equality, makes no mention of this educational inequality," he emphasized.

In his opening remarks at the Emergency Committee meeting that day, he said, "To eliminate the super-gap, fundamental changes in university education are necessary," adding, "Apple Inc. in the U.S. has a market capitalization of 1,500 trillion dollars, which is equivalent to our country's gross domestic product (GDP). This is what we call the super-gap."

He went on to point out, "While corporate rankings have changed over the past 30 years, the rankings of universities worldwide have not changed." This highlighted the reality that university education remains stagnant even as domestic companies grow.

Chairman Kim questioned, "After the COVID-19 crisis, we have no choice but to accelerate innovation in our industrial structure. There is much talk about the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including artificial intelligence and data science, but do universities have enough professors capable of teaching these subjects?" He further asked, "For economic innovation, we say we are developing system semiconductors, but how many people can explain semiconductors that can utilize big data?"

He said, "We need to consider whether the knowledge gained after four years of undergraduate and two years of master's and doctoral studies is truly useful," adding, "Since academic development is progressing rapidly, it may be time to rethink university curricula."

Chairman Kim suggested, "To discuss comprehensive issues and pioneer new university education, how about establishing a Higher Education Deliberation Committee within the National Assembly?" He added, "The committee should bring together beneficiaries, providers, and experts to fundamentally redesign our higher education system through thorough discussions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.