[Editorial] Are we also to see the crumbling of our universities?

Apparently, nearly one third of our university students are taking temporary leave of absence from school. This brings home the fact that our tertiary education system is in crisis. The statistics released by the Ministry of Education indicate that total student enrollment during the current semester at all of the nation's public and private universities, excluding teachers' colleges and community colleges, numbered 1,631,011.

Of them, 527,316 students or 31.6 percent of total student enrollment, were on leave of absence, an increase of 18,669 students over last semester. This was the highest recorded number of students on leave. The prime cause for the increase is our deteriorating economy.

Poor employment prospects upon their graduation leads many male students to take the course of delaying completion of their studies by joining the army for early completion of their military duty. This allows them to buy time in hopes of finding a better employment situation when they leave the military. Many students also failed to enroll for the latest semester because they were unable to come up with tuition and other enrollment fees.

Who is ultimately responsible for making our university students despondent and frustrated? They were young men and women full of youthful vigor and hopes, having been admitted to university after a fierce competition for matriculation. The older generations must be held accountable for the fact that the students are suffering from a situation that is not their fault.

Needless to say, not all students decided to take leave due to economic difficulties. Some wanted to follow the current trend and have overseas training; take courses for admission or transfer to other universities; or embark on courses of study or training to obtain licenses or permits.

This may be indicative of a change among our young generations, who seemingly attach greater importance to their social adaptability and applicability than to their formal education. They may regard obtaining a diploma as a less-than-urgent concern.

Our universities are in a panic due to the unprecedented number of students on leaves of absence, which causes them to face two different sets of problems. One is financial difficulty in operating the nation¡¯s universities due to the reduced enrollment fees. The other problem is the distractions that lower enrollment causes for the students who choose to remain in school. The classes are empty and demoralizing. Parallel to the reduced number of students is the students' experience of psychological uncertainties and anxiety.

As a consequence, it has been learned that the number of students skipping classes is also on the rise. Many professors have confessed that under such circumstances, they find it hard to carry out their classroom duties. Our universities are now experiencing the so-called collapse that our secondary schools went through in the past, albeit under different circumstances.

This sense of crisis and accompanying atmosphere of academic distraction, together with our inadequacies in such basic fields of study as the arts and humanities, social sciences and natural sciences in recent years, has cast a dark shadow on our university system.

What is the proper place of the university? It is the institution that most needs to be strengthened if we are to succeed in meeting the challenges of the knowledge-based society of the 21st century.

Due attention must be paid to address the collapse of our universities, which represent the birthplace of the nation's competitiveness. The massive exodus of students from domestic higher learning institutions provides us with an opportunity to reexamine the role of our universities, both as educational institutions for elites seeking academic advancement and as a vocational training facilities for those planning to enter the workforce.