Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon Proposes 'Joint Degree System for National Universities' to Resolve University Hierarchy Issues

Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Holds Forum on Solutions to University Hierarchy
Proposes 'Regional Hub University Joint Degree System' and 'Integrated National University Networking'

On the morning of the 18th, when the 2022 College Scholastic Ability Test was held, Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, visited the examination site set up at Yeouido High School in Seoul and expressed his gratitude to the proctoring teachers.
Photo by Joint Press Corps, SisaIN Jo Nam-jin

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, proposed a 'Joint Degree System among National Universities' as a measure to ease university hierarchy.

On the 15th, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education proposed a 'Reorganization of the University System for the Normalization of Education and Social Reform in the Republic of Korea' and held a forum to discuss solutions for resolving university hierarchy.

The main points include ▲ enhancing educational quality and research capabilities through financial support for regional base national universities ▲ participation in a network of integrated national universities based on a joint degree system among regional base universities.

At the forum, Superintendent Cho stated that without easing university hierarchy, there are limits to normalizing elementary and secondary education, and proposed the joint degree system among national universities with experts who studied university system reorganization.

Superintendent Cho explained, "Through financial support, we must strengthen the quality of higher education and research capabilities of nine regional base national universities, specialize undergraduate and graduate education, and elevate regional base national universities to the level of Seoul National University. By forming a network among base national universities and awarding joint degrees based on a simplified joint selection process, it is possible to ease university hierarchy and achieve balanced regional development."

Professor Ban Sang-jin of Jeonbuk National University suggested in his presentation on 'Directions and Key Tasks for a Major Transformation of the University System' that the university system should be fundamentally transformed into a shared cooperative system. Due to financial difficulties caused by declining student numbers and relatively poor budgets and faculty compared to leading foreign universities, it is necessary to transition to a shared growth-type university alliance system including both national and private universities to overcome these challenges.

Professor Ban proposed, "In the first phase, the state's responsibility for university support should be strengthened through laws such as the Higher Education Finance Grant Act. In the second phase, a national university alliance system centered on graduate schools, a regional national university alliance system centered on undergraduate education, and a type-based private university alliance system should be operated. In the long term, linkage and cooperation between national and private university alliances should be realized."

Professor Kim Jong-young of Kyung Hee University proposed unifying the names of the 10 base national universities including Seoul National University and awarding joint degrees. Professor Kim said, "If base national universities such as Seoul National University are networked and named Seoul University 1 through Seoul University 10, and budgets equivalent to Seoul National University are invested to improve educational conditions, the boundary between universities in Seoul and regional universities can be eliminated, freeing our country from the education hell."

There was also a proposal to form a joint university entrance examination network involving national, public, and private universities. Kim Tae-hoon, Policy Vice Chairman of Education Concern-Free Society, explained, "In Korea, where private universities have a high proportion, it is difficult for the state to enforce university entrance and system reforms at once, so universities should voluntarily participate in a joint entrance examination network. If students are selected based on the same academic standards, the hierarchical ranking of universities by entrance scores among these universities will disappear, and the more universities participate in this network, the more university hierarchy will be significantly eased."

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