On the 8th, Kim Daesik, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee from the People Power Party (representing Sasang-gu, Busan), announced during the Education Committee's parliamentary audit that he would push for a comprehensive revision of the Higher Education Act to resolve universities' long-standing issues of over 30 years.
On this day, Representative Kim also confirmed the Ministry of Education's position regarding the direction of the legal revision.
Kim Daesik emphasized, "In this era of great upheaval, marked by rapid industrial changes such as the digital transformation and the acceleration of regional hollowing out due to a sharp population decline, universities must continuously generate new innovative outcomes through bold attempts in order to survive."
He also expressed his determination to comprehensively revise the Higher Education Act in a future-oriented manner to strengthen the guarantee of university autonomy and enable universities to proactively respond to changing environments and achieve results.
Representative Kim stated, "Having worked in the university field for the past 35 years and after becoming a lawmaker, I have gathered diverse opinions from the field, including from the Korean Council for University Education and the Korea Council for University College Education. As a result, I believe the most urgent provision to be improved for universities to generate innovative outcomes is to reduce the Minister of Education's comprehensive guidance and supervisory authority."
To this end, he proposed to the Minister of Education to revise the Higher Education Act so that the minister’s guidance and supervisory authority would be exercised only exceptionally in cases of urgent and significant public interest, thereby balancing university autonomy and public responsibility.
Minister of Education Lee Juhho fully agreed with Kim Daesik's opinion, responding, "I believe it is necessary to significantly relinquish the guidance and supervisory authority so that universities can innovate on their own based on autonomy and creativity."
However, he added, "In cases where there are reasons related to the achievement of public interest, such as fostering medical professionals responsible for the lives and health of the people, it is necessary to exercise supervisory authority in a limited manner."
Additionally, Representative Kim mentioned that in order to vitalize autonomous innovation at universities centered on students and businesses, matters related to academic administration should be switched to a negative system, and the role of schools should be significantly improved to suit the new educational environment, including the advent of lifelong learning, strengthening of government-industry-academia cooperation, and student support.
Kim Daesik stressed, "I am convinced that lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties coming together to comprehensively revise the Higher Education Act is a key solution to the various social and educational issues we are currently facing," and added, "I hope the Ministry of Education will also lend its support for the prompt promotion and passage of the amendment."
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