The National University Professors Association (referred to as 'National University Association') has strongly opposed the Ministry of Education's selection results for the '10 Seoul National Universities' initiative. They are demanding the immediate inclusion of six national universities that were not selected and a comprehensive review of the competitive ranking policy that promotes selective and concentrated support.
On September 17, the National University Association issued an emergency joint statement titled 'Return to the Principles of 5 Extremes 3 Specialties for National Balanced Development,' criticizing the government's '10 Seoul National Universities' project for straying from its original intent of promoting national balanced development and fostering unnecessary competition and disparities among national universities.
In the statement, the association outlined three key demands directed at the Ministry of Education.
First, they strongly urged the addition of the six unselected national universities to ensure that all national universities can function as core pillars of national balanced development, supported by a stable and continuous national funding system.
Next, they called for a complete re-evaluation of the competitive support system that selectively and intensively supports only certain universities, which leads to new disparities and hierarchies. They also demanded the transparent disclosure of evaluation criteria, procedures, and results, as well as institutional guarantees for the independence, objectivity, and fairness of evaluations.
The National University Association stated, 'The government's strategy for promoting balanced growth, established with enthusiasm at the beginning of its term to overcome the one-pole system in the metropolitan area and the crisis of regional extinction, has drifted just one year later.' They criticized the government's promise to cultivate growth hubs comparable to the metropolitan area as having been seriously distorted in the execution process.
They particularly emphasized that 'reintroducing competition and ranking among national universities that should be nurtured together contradicts the intent of balanced development.' They questioned whether the government's goal is to create new regional disparities by widening the gap between the three selected universities and the six unselected ones.
Regarding the opaque evaluation process and fairness issues, the National University Association expressed strong criticism, stating, 'The evaluation criteria for the '10 Seoul National Universities' have not been disclosed at all, and the government's explanations regarding follow-up actions are inconsistent.' They urged that if political or regional considerations have influenced large-scale national financial support, this must be clearly stated, and the evaluation criteria and rationale should be transparently disclosed to university stakeholders.
Furthermore, the National University Association asserted, 'Higher education should not be swayed by political gains and losses, as it is a long-term investment for the future.' They called for the immediate exclusion of non-experts who have distorted policies without understanding the characteristics and academic diversity of universities, and emphasized the need for a policy direction led by experts who deeply understand the characteristics of national, public, and private universities.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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