The most powerful tool for shaping a nation's future is the educational vision of its leader. The way a top official views education and prioritizes its philosophical aspects can reshape the country's intellectual landscape and survival strategies.
In this context, the joint briefing held on August 5 by the Ministry of Education and the National Education Commission left much to be desired. During the 40-minute discussion, President Lee Jae-myung pointedly addressed the issues with the current college entrance system and primary and secondary education. He criticized the drawbacks of multiple-choice assessments and emphasized the need to cultivate questioning skills and critical thinking in the age of AI.
However, it was disappointing that the discussion, which should have encapsulated the leader's educational philosophy, failed to acknowledge the significance of higher education (universities), a cornerstone of the knowledge ecosystem and national competitiveness. It seemed that in the President's view, universities remain merely a structural element for reducing private education costs and the final bottleneck in the college entrance process.
The President's remarks revealed a strong distrust and skepticism toward the current College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), which has been in place for over 30 years. He described the multiple-choice format as "mechanical repetitive training for selecting correct answers" and likened it to a test that even a basic computer could easily handle, directly criticizing the convenience-driven approach of educational administration. His call for a shift to subjective and essay-type assessments to reform primary and secondary education was valid. However, this critique focused solely on normalizing primary and secondary education and ensuring fairness in college admissions, without extending to the role of universities in educating future talent.
It appears that President Lee's vision for higher education is trapped in a "demographic perspective" and a "functional tool" rather than viewing it as an independent academic hub. As revealed during the briefing, the President's focus was on administrative achievements such as reducing total private education costs, expanding integrated care, and granting autonomy to regional national universities, rather than addressing critical issues facing universities, such as the structural decay of their finances due to 17 years of frozen tuition, the decline in global competitiveness of research-oriented universities, the specialization of regional universities, the importance of basic sciences, and international exchanges with prestigious foreign institutions.
A deeper concern lies in the evident distrust of university autonomy reflected in the discussion on college entrance reform. The President noted, "There has never been a case where touching the entrance exam system has received praise," while criticizing the administrative convenience that relies on multiple-choice formats to avoid fairness concerns. However, in shaking up the entrance exam system, he did not mention the intellectual autonomy and selection authority that universities should possess as the main actors in education and talent selection. There seems to be a perception that universities are merely passive implementers of the entrance guidelines set by the state and quick suppliers of the skilled workforce demanded by industry.
Education does not culminate in the foundational academic skills of primary and secondary education. In an era where the knowledge power struggle is intensifying, the competitiveness of universities, the highest institutions of learning, ultimately determines a nation's standing. As long as the national leader dismisses higher education as merely a structural element for solving entrance exam issues or a tool for regional care, a fundamental leap in South Korean education will be impossible. A clear national vision and groundbreaking policy decisions regarding higher education must be established in the leader's mind. Only when bold investments in universities and the restoration of their autonomy become core priorities of national policy can the future of education in South Korea be realized.
In this context, the joint briefing held on August 5 by the Ministry of Education and the National Education Commission left much to be desired. During the 40-minute discussion, President Lee Jae-myung pointedly addressed the issues with the current college entrance system and primary and secondary education. He criticized the drawbacks of multiple-choice assessments and emphasized the need to cultivate questioning skills and critical thinking in the age of AI.
However, it was disappointing that the discussion, which should have encapsulated the leader's educational philosophy, failed to acknowledge the significance of higher education (universities), a cornerstone of the knowledge ecosystem and national competitiveness. It seemed that in the President's view, universities remain merely a structural element for reducing private education costs and the final bottleneck in the college entrance process.
The President's remarks revealed a strong distrust and skepticism toward the current College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), which has been in place for over 30 years. He described the multiple-choice format as "mechanical repetitive training for selecting correct answers" and likened it to a test that even a basic computer could easily handle, directly criticizing the convenience-driven approach of educational administration. His call for a shift to subjective and essay-type assessments to reform primary and secondary education was valid. However, this critique focused solely on normalizing primary and secondary education and ensuring fairness in college admissions, without extending to the role of universities in educating future talent.
It appears that President Lee's vision for higher education is trapped in a "demographic perspective" and a "functional tool" rather than viewing it as an independent academic hub. As revealed during the briefing, the President's focus was on administrative achievements such as reducing total private education costs, expanding integrated care, and granting autonomy to regional national universities, rather than addressing critical issues facing universities, such as the structural decay of their finances due to 17 years of frozen tuition, the decline in global competitiveness of research-oriented universities, the specialization of regional universities, the importance of basic sciences, and international exchanges with prestigious foreign institutions.
A deeper concern lies in the evident distrust of university autonomy reflected in the discussion on college entrance reform. The President noted, "There has never been a case where touching the entrance exam system has received praise," while criticizing the administrative convenience that relies on multiple-choice formats to avoid fairness concerns. However, in shaking up the entrance exam system, he did not mention the intellectual autonomy and selection authority that universities should possess as the main actors in education and talent selection. There seems to be a perception that universities are merely passive implementers of the entrance guidelines set by the state and quick suppliers of the skilled workforce demanded by industry.
Education does not culminate in the foundational academic skills of primary and secondary education. In an era where the knowledge power struggle is intensifying, the competitiveness of universities, the highest institutions of learning, ultimately determines a nation's standing. As long as the national leader dismisses higher education as merely a structural element for solving entrance exam issues or a tool for regional care, a fundamental leap in South Korean education will be impossible. A clear national vision and groundbreaking policy decisions regarding higher education must be established in the leader's mind. Only when bold investments in universities and the restoration of their autonomy become core priorities of national policy can the future of education in South Korea be realized.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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