[Asia Exclusive] "Universities Should Be Separated from the Ministry of Education and Placed Under the Prime Minister's Office"

Lee Ju-ho, Chairman of K Policy Platform

Major Changes Needed in Administrative Organization and Key Policy Jurisdiction Related to Education

The Ministry of Education Should Expand Its Focus to Early Childhood, and Universities Should Serve as Innovation Ecosystem Hubs

Lee Ju-ho, Chairman of the K-Policy Platform, is being interviewed on the 20th at the Asia Education Association in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Interview by Asia Economy’s Chief Economic Editor Choi Il-gwon, summarized by Reporter Kim Hyun-jung] "It is difficult to expect innovation functions from a university under the Ministry of Education. It should be separated from the government and placed under the Prime Minister’s Office, which handles coordination, leaving only support functions."

Lee Ju-ho, Chairman of K Policy Platform, emphasized in an interview with Asia Economy that a sweeping change is necessary regarding administrative organization and education-related matters. He suggested that universities should be regarded more as cradles of innovation than mere educational sites, while the Ministry of Education should be completely reorganized to expand its scope to include early childhood care. Furthermore, to reestablish the foundation of public education, he advocated placing artificial intelligence (AI) tutors at the core of basic education, while reallocating existing teaching staff to roles focused on character and creativity development as well as personalized counseling through the introduction of the ‘High Touch High Tech (HTHT)’ approach.

Chairman Lee particularly stressed that universities must play the role of hubs in the innovation ecosystem that will drive national growth in the future. Overcoming bureaucratic obstacles is key, and escaping the interference of the Ministry of Education is a prerequisite. He said, "In Korea, 80% of university students attend private universities, and the quality of professors is very high, providing good conditions for innovation. However, the decisive problem is the failure to overcome bureaucracy." As a model to consider, he mentioned the UK’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). In 2009, the UK integrated innovation and university support departments with industry and regulatory reform departments to establish and oversee BIS. He explained, "To enable domestic universities to lead innovation like top global universities, deregulation, strategic planning, and support are necessary. Universities should be placed under the Prime Minister’s Office like government-funded research institutes, and the Ministry of Education should take over early childhood education and care from the Ministry of Health and Welfare to focus on minimizing educational disparities."

▲ What is the biggest problem in domestic university education?

= The biggest problem is the strong control the Ministry of Education exerts over universities. The University of Bologna in Italy, considered the first university, was founded in 1088, before modern governments were even established. However, in Korea, universities function like government agencies. Universities should have autonomy and openness and should not be mere educational institutions but hubs for the entire future innovation ecosystem. Ultimately, they should lead job creation and the revival of new industries, and also address youth issues, which have become a major challenge in modern society, through such initiatives.

▲ Seoul National University has been corporatized. What is your opinion on such changes?

= Seoul National University was corporatized around the same time as the National University of Singapore. However, when you look closely, the degree of autonomy is vastly different. This again comes down to the control exerted by the Ministry of Education. Despite the sharp decline in the school-age population, the government cannot actively close universities it considers ‘its own children.’ Universities should be allowed to reorganize themselves, but instead, the government either leaves them as is or intervenes directly to restructure. The current situation is a crisis for universities, not for education. However, universities that need to be closed?those of poor quality?should be shut down for the benefit of the public. This phenomenon should never be feared.

▲ Are there any specific measures?

= Universities should be separated from the Ministry of Education and placed under the Prime Minister’s Office, while the Ministry of Education should focus on early childhood and elementary education. Some functions of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy should be reorganized into an Innovation Strategy Department. National innovation should not be planned solely by the Blue House. Currently, innovation is handled by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of Science and ICT. These functions should be redistributed, and support for universities should be strengthened to enable them to serve as innovation hubs. This will allow a genuine bottom-up innovation ecosystem to be established rather than a government-led one.

▲ What educational alternatives would you suggest in response to demographic changes such as the declining school-age population?

= The education subsidy, which is growing in size, is currently used only for primary and secondary education. Attempts to use it for universities are difficult. Instead, more focus should be placed on early childhood care and education. Learning disparities that occur before the age of 10 begin during early childhood development. The government should withdraw from universities and increase direct support and guarantees for early childhood to seek solutions to population and female workforce issues.

▲ The core project of the Asia Education Association is known as HTHT. Could you introduce it in more detail?

= It involves introducing edutech technology into educational sites, where AI tutors provide basic education to children, and existing teachers focus intensively on creativity education and character development. This project started in Vietnam and is currently being implemented domestically in cooperation with 28 universities, 5 primary and secondary schools, and 5 local governments. However, due to resistance and rejection from vested educational interests, it is currently being introduced mainly in schools for North Korean defectors, regional children’s centers, and orphanages to reduce disparities. The COVID-19 pandemic has helped persuade stakeholders to adopt this approach, but there are still significant limitations.

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