Professors at national and public universities have pushed back against the government's plan to concentrate support on three regional flagship national universities as part of its "Creating 10 Seoul National Universities" initiative, calling it "an elitist policy that encourages ranking among universities."
Three organizations — the National Council of Professors at National and Public Universities, the Council of Professors at Flagship National Universities, and the Council of Professors at National Central Universities — said in a joint declaration on Wednesday that they "cannot agree with the Ministry of Education's policy direction, which is solely focused on selection and concentration, competition and efficiency."
The groups criticized the plan, saying, "Selecting only three specialized universities is a hasty policy that focuses on ranking flagship national universities, ranking academic fields, and ranking regions," adding that "national central universities, which are non-flagship institutions, are not even given a chance to participate." Flagship national universities include Seoul National University and nine others across the country, totaling 10, while national central universities refer to 29 institutions including national and public universities and universities of education, excluding the flagship national universities.
They further stressed, "To secure basic infrastructure for education and research at under-resourced regional universities, all nine flagship universities should receive equal support," adding that "selecting a few universities through rigorous evaluation after a certain period would dispel the misunderstanding of 'dividing the pie.'"
Earlier, the Ministry of Education announced on the 15th its "Plan to Foster Regional Talent Linked to Growth Engines," which involves selecting and supporting three regional flagship national universities. The plan centers on investing 100 billion won annually over the next five years to develop the three universities as hubs for artificial intelligence (AI) research and regional strategic industries. Some universities that had expected a large-scale budget allocation complained that the policy had been scaled back to the level of "creating three regional Seoul National Universities."
In response, the Ministry of Education explained, "We plan to create success models through concentrated support in fields related to regional strategic industries and expand them to other fields," adding, "We will enable exceptional support for outstanding faculty, including those currently in service."
