Yoon Hee-sook Criticizes 'Education' Following Real Estate... "University Quotas Cause Soaring Private Education Costs"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Yoon Hee-sook, a member of the Future United Party who criticized the current government's real estate policy in a 5-minute speech at the National Assembly, is now raising her voice about the education system. Following her criticism on the 6th that "the government and education authorities are dedicated to the 'National Crayfish Making Project,'" she pointed out again on the 7th that "the surge in private education expenses is due to the Capital Region Readjustment Planning Act tightly restricting the total university enrollment quota."

On the 7th, Yoon said on Facebook, "Our country has a strange system where university education does not respond to student demand."

She pointed out, "With the advent of the 4th Industrial Revolution and the rapid expansion of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and big data fields, the demand for computer engineering among university entrants is exploding worldwide. At Stanford University in the U.S., the number of computer engineering students has rapidly increased, with 745 out of 1,463 engineering students (50.9%) in 2020, but Seoul National University’s computer engineering quota has remained unchanged at 55 for the past 10 years. Korea University (115 students, 14.3%) and Yonsei University (66 students, 8.2%) show the same trend."

Yoon criticized, "At the national level, the economy’s future is bleak because the workforce demanded by future industries is not being produced, and at the individual level, the path to the future they desire is too narrow. According to KDI (2020), the mismatch rate between workers’ majors and jobs in our country is among the highest in the OECD."

She also pointed out that this is the cause of the surge in private education expenses. "Because the competition rate for preferred majors and schools is excessively high, only the premium of entering a good school and a good major through that narrow gate is emphasized," she said. "Huge private education expenses are spent for that. Even though the number of students is decreasing, private education expenses are skyrocketing."

Yoon explained, "The reason such ridiculous things happen is because the total university enrollment quota is tightly restricted due to the Capital Region Readjustment Planning Act. Therefore, universities have no choice but to adjust quotas between departments, but this is originally a difficult issue because it involves the proportion of majors and the continuity of faculty employment."

While acknowledging that "these regulations each have their own reasons," she criticized, "The rights of students to pursue the futures they dream of, the hardship of parents who have to bear private education expenses even while postponing retirement preparations, and the national-level manpower supply imbalance due to the severe shortage of IT professionals in the rapidly changing industrial landscape are issues as important as, or even more important than, the goal of preventing concentration in the capital region."

Yoon pointed out, "The Moon Jae-in government, while promoting the 4th Industrial Revolution, only planned to distribute massive budgets to places with unclear effectiveness, showing no interest at all in much more fundamental and core preparations or in a system that can flexibly supply the workforce demanded by future industrial landscapes." She added, "In an already uncertain future, the state is actively blocking the paths young people have found and resisting."

Earlier, on the 6th, Yoon also quoted former Minister Cho Kuk’s social network service (SNS) post saying, 'Not everyone needs to become a dragon. It is important to create a world where crayfish, frogs, and crucian carp can live happily,' and criticized, "However, the role of education is to pave the way for crayfish who want to become dragons. Should we just stand by and watch the government and education authorities dedicate themselves to the 'National Crayfish Making Project'?"