Gyeongnam Province, "Seeking Alternatives to Turn the Crisis of Local Universities into Opportunities!"

On the 22nd, 'How to Turn the Crisis of Universities into Opportunities?' Future Forum Held
Exploring New Alternatives Alongside the Spread of Successful Cases of Gyeongnam Regional Innovation Platform
Governor Kim Kyung-soo: "Transitioning Universi

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kang Sharon] On the 22nd, Gyeongsangnam-do held a forum titled "The Crisis of Universities, How to Turn It into an Opportunity?" in collaboration with National Assembly member Park Jumin (Democratic Party of Korea, Seoul Eunpyeong Gap) and the organization No Private Education Concern.

This year, regional universities experienced a large-scale shortage of enrollment quotas in the university entrance exams. The recent decline in the school-age population and the severe concentration in the metropolitan area were analyzed as the main causes. Starting next year, the number is expected to decrease even more sharply, with an annual shortfall of 100,000 nationwide and more than 20,000 in the Southeast region.

The forum was organized to accurately diagnose the crisis of regional universities and seek alternatives, and it was conducted via video conference.

Governor Kim Kyung-soo expressed in his opening remarks before the forum, "Without universities, it is difficult for regions to properly innovate and impossible to develop," and added, "I hope today's forum will be a good opportunity to find ways for the region and universities to develop together."

He also emphasized, "If we do not quickly introduce a lifelong education system and transform universities into institutions responsible for lifelong education for local residents, it will be difficult to overcome the crisis of universities," and said, "Local governments will also work together to find solutions."

Afterwards, Eunjin Lee, Director of the Gyeongnam Regional Innovation Platform General Operation Center; Professor Se-eun Jeong (Department of Economics, Chungnam National University); and Jihyun Shin, Head of the Social Contribution Team at IBM Korea, gave presentations.

The province is focusing on nurturing the talent needed locally within the region and ensuring that these talents remain in the region while promoting the Regional Innovation Platform project. To this end, universities in the province have jointly established the Gyeongnam-type Shared University USG (University System of Gyeongnam) and are strengthening connections with major companies such as LG Electronics and NHN.

Additionally, for small-scale regional universities, the plan is to encourage them to combine with distinctive local resources to strengthen the lifelong education system and support universities to play a pivotal role in coexisting with the local community.

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