Higher Education Reform in Korea

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Higher Education Reform in Korea - Policy
Responses to a Changing Labor Market -
February 13, 2007
Moon Hee Kim Ministry of Education Human
Resources Development Republic of Korea
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CONTENTS
1
Overview
2
The Change of Labor Market
3
HE Policy Responses to Labor Market Change
3
1.
4
Number of Students Schools, HE
ltAs of April 1, 2006gt
5
Economic Development
6
Sequential Expansion of Education

• Step-by-step attainment of universal education
  primary ? secondary ? higher education

Elite
Mass
Universal
? Trow, Forms and Phases of Higher Education
Elite ? Mass ? Universal
7
Policy Foci for Economy and Education
8
2.
The Change of Labor Market
9
Changes in Industrial Structure
lt Employment Structure gt
? 2015p Agriculture 5.5, Manufacturing
Construction 18.3, Service 76.2
10
Demographic change
Low Fertility
Ageing
Demographic structure age group
Total fertility rate No. of birth
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Youth Unemployment

• Youth(1529?) Unemployment(06.11),
  7.5(34.3mil.) 2.3times greater than the overall
  UR

Unemployment rate()
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Skill Mismatch / Low Satisfaction

• Skill Mismatch in labor force

Supply
Lack of qualified core talents
Demand
Youth unemployment (343,000)
Labor shortage at SMEs (197,000)

• Low level of satisfaction towards university
  graduates

? Ranked 50th out of 61 countries in terms of
university education meeting economic
demands(IMD, 2006)
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Wage gaps / Wage premium

• Increasing non-regular employment ? widening a
  wage gap.
• University premium decreased until mid-90s but

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3.
HE Policy Responses to Labor Market Change
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Vision and Goals
Globally Competetive Higher Education
Industrial engineers (Junior Colleges )
Restructuring competition
Selected funding for specialization
LB information
Partnerships
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Major strategies

• Improvement of HE/labor market information
• - manpower forecasting and assessment of
  skill requirements
• Promotion of restructuring and competition
  through
• market discipline
• - use of various incentives and disincentives
• Funding based on selection and concentration
• - targeted funding for specialization and
  regional parity
• Financing learners rather than providers
• - learner-oriented/demand-side financing
  (student loans)
• Enhancement of networking and partnerships
• - with local governments and business community

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HE Reform Initiatives

• Strengthening graduate programs in high
  value-added service areas medicine, law,
  international finance, MBA, etc
• Introduction of a new HE quality assurance system
• - Establishing the new quality assurance
  agency including the
• accreditation and certification process
  with global standard
• - Financial provisions aligned with
  institutional evaluations
• Clearing HE information
• - Inputs measures PT ratio, unit
  expenditure, occupancy/ enrollment rate
• - Process/Outcome measures
  persistence/graduation rate, employment
• rate, customer satisfaction, etc.
• Financial incentives for reform and restructuring
  HE Inst.
• - Subsidies linked to amalgamation among
  institutions

? Reducing enrollment by 50K students by 2009(18
inst. merged into 9, as of 2006)
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Major Programs to enhance the Quality
(1US 1,000KRW)
? 1st-Phase Brain Korea 21 (19992005, US
1.4billion) ?Enhanced university research
capacity induced competition ? Number of
BK21 science tech SCI-level papers 3,765(1998)
? 7,947(2005) ?Produced scientists of
international competence ? Number of
doctors in science tech(19992005) 6,602 ?
2nd-Phase Brain Korea 21 (20062012, US
2.3billion) ?Cultivate 20,000
graduate-level best brains per year ? 74
universities, 244 project units, 325 project
teams(2006, US 290million) ? New University for
Regional Innovation (20042008, US 1.2billion)
?Specialize local universities nurture human
resources readily adaptable to the
industry ? 109 local universities, 130
project units ? Connect Korea
Project(20062010, 150million)
?Strengthening partnership b/w universities and
industry ?Establishing Consortium b/w TLOs
(Technology Licensing Offices) in univ.
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Government Role

• Coordinate HRD/VET polices among different line
  ministries.
• - Ministerial Committee on HRD (chairperson
  DPM)
• - The Committee is composed of 14 Ministers

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Thank you
mhk3333kim_at_moe.go.kr