(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Feb. 17)

Educational dilemma

Academic freedom in this country does not really mean freedom from outside
interference in intellectual pursuits. Everyone inside and outside the academic
community recognizes that universities' liberty in that classic sense has been
guaranteed thanks to political democratization a few decades ago. Academic
freedom in Korea today means the freedom of individual universities to recruit
students by whatever methods they like. This was an election pledge of President
Lee Myung-bak.
The Lee administration chose 2012, the final year of its tenure, as the target
year for the full realization of that freedom. For some university operators,
that apparently seemed too long to wait. Korea University was especially hasty in
exercising its promised freedom.
It was alleged that the private university disregarded one of the key
prohibitions introduced by previous administrations. Education Ministry officials
say that Korea University, in its early admission process late last year, gave
extra credit to students of elite high schools and applied nationwide grading of
high schools. Korea University asserts that it did not deliberately ignore the
rule.
The ethics committee of the Korean Council for University Education is
investigating the charges against Korea University. Whatever the outcome, the
controversy exposed the serious problem of competition among universities to
recruit better-off students - in addition to competition among students and their
parents to get into more prestigious universities - making it difficult to
introduce changes in the entrance system to eliminate costly private teaching, a
terrible social malady in this country.
The incident could lead the administration to review its schedule for
liberalization. The ruling Grand National Party is looking into giving the KCUE,
which is made up of 200 four-year universities, the authority to impose practical
sanctions on universities that violate admission rules established by the
university community. The "sanctions" could include requesting the Education
Ministry to order a reduction of enrollment or the closure of departments at
universities that fail to abide by autonomous rules.
The Grand National Party also plans to form an "Educational Cooperation
Committee" with chiefs of education offices, representatives of universities and
senior officials of the Education Ministry as a consultative body to help design
education policies, including ones on admission. The legislative move is,
however, certain to face objections from both conservative and liberal circles.
The former would find the intervention of education authorities to be a step back
from full liberalization while the latter would continue to oppose the principle
of laissez faire in individual schools' admission procedures.
Upon taking office, Lee was determined to change the course of educational
administration from the emphasis of equal opportunity to free competition to
promote academic excellence. But at the end of the first year, he must now have
realized, awakened by the controversy involving his alma mater, how difficult it
is to turn such a policy into action in this education-obsessed nation.
Since the establishment of the Republic of Korea's government, the university
entrance system has undergone 15 major changes. Lee intends to introduce a 16th
during his term of office. Academic liberty naturally requires autonomy in
student recruitment and the present administration has set up a worthy goal. In
the pursuit of that goal, however, President Lee and his education aides should
bear in mind that no plan can be perfect and that audacity and haste are the
worst hazards in implementing a policy plan, especially one involving education.
(END)