Ministry of Education to move outside cities and provinces

The People Power Party, the South Korean government, and the presidential office decided during the new year’s first high-level government officials’ council meeting on Sunday to move the authorities of the Ministry of Education concerning support for regional universities with financial struggles outside cities and provinces by 2025. Efforts for structural reform of poor-performing universities will also be made.

The council held a meeting at the National Assembly on Sunday afternoon and discussed the Ministry of Education’s measures to pursue educational reform tailored to each region and the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy’s plan to support an international exposition in Busan. The meeting was attended by head of the People Power Party's Emergency Council Jeong Jin-seok, the party’s floor leader Joo Ho-young, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Lee Ju-ho, Chief of Staff to President Kim Dae-ki, senior presidential secretary for policy and planning Lee Kwan-sup, etc.

“In five cities and provinces, the authorities concerning university support will be transferred outside the cities and provinces,” Senior spokesperson of the People Power party Yang Keum-hee said to reporters after the meeting. “Regulations on universities’ establishment of new departments, student capacity adjustment, academic management, asset disposal, and evaluation will be removed.” This is to build a ‘university support system focused on regional innovation’ so that regional universities and local areas can build an ecosystem of a virtuous cycle. “We also decided to allow the donation of remaining assets to nonprofit foundations and social welfare organizations in case of the dissolution of poor-performing universities.” She also added that the act supporting private universities’ structural reform would be enacted by the end of the year.

In addition, the council decided to conduct an on-site survey in April to host an international exhibition in 2030 in Busan, which will be decided in November this year, and actively promote differentiating factors in presentations in June and November.


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