National University Secretariat Directors, Ministry of Education Officials' Staff Reduction... Full Authority Granted to Presidents

18 Directors-General and 9 Grade 3 Staff Reduced
Ministry of Education: "Letting Go of Privileges"

The Ministry of Education will reduce the number of general government official positions appointed as secretaries-general at national universities. The purpose is to guarantee the autonomy of national universities and break the existing practice of Ministry of Education officials intervening in universities.

According to the Ministry of Education on the 6th, the total quota of 27 general government official positions currently appointed as secretaries-general at national universities will be reduced. This includes 18 senior officials (director-level) and 9 deputy directors (level 3).

So far, secretaries-general at national universities within the Ministry of Education have been known as a ‘promotion course’ for senior officials. The secretary-general at a national university is responsible for personnel, payroll, and internal audits at the university. However, there have been criticisms that the Ministry of Education is interfering in university affairs.

The reorganization of senior government officials is also a key policy direction of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. President Yoon has emphasized reducing personnel and recruiting external talent, presenting a government official organization reform plan earlier this year.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Education announced at the end of September last year that it would completely exclude Ministry of Education officials from appointments as secretaries-general at national universities and instead appoint them through personnel exchanges with other ministries, private sector openings, and public competitions. Subsequently, on July 1, all secretaries-general at 14 national universities appointed through personnel exchanges with other ministries and public competitions were returned to their original ministries.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A Ministry of Education official explained, "Relinquishing vested interests is painful for the Ministry of Education," but added, "The intention is to establish a system where national universities can innovate independently and autonomously, building a framework that allows them to operate independently and autonomously rather than relying on support from the Ministry of Education and central government agencies."

Going forward, these positions will be converted to open positions and appointed as specially appointed officials, such as professors or private experts. The personnel authority will also be granted to the respective university presidents, who will directly select the secretary-general. The term of a specially appointed secretary-general will be one year, but reappointment is possible within the president’s term.

The Ministry of Education plans to amend five laws, including the ‘National School Establishment Decree’ and the ‘National School Quota Regulations,’ to reduce government official quotas and increase specially appointed positions. Along with this, guidelines covering recruitment methods, procedures, and targets will be prepared.

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