Eye of The Argus

By Park Ji-yeon
Editorial Consultant


When former President Lee Myung-bak emphasized South Korea’s role in Northeast Asia, several departments related to Northeast Asia studies sprang up on universities. Similarly, when President Park Geun-hye stressed fusion at the beginning of her term, college students witnessed the establishment of several departments of fusion studies.
However, to make the debuts of such departments possible, many departments within the humanities had to either cut down student numbers or shut down completely to make space for the new majors.

Humanities majors are facing yet another cutback, due to the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) new project this time. The so-called PRIME Project will increase the quotas for colleges of science and engineering while downsizing -once more- the departments in the humanities.

The MOE says the goal of the large-scale PRIME Project is to meet societal needs in the job market which is apparently concentrated on science and engineering. However, the ministry is forgetting the ultimate goal of universities: to fulfill students’ genuine curiosity in various fields through professional education. Rather, the MOE seems to have mistaken itself for the Ministry of Employment and Labor, as it pushes universities to be the final piece in the troubled job-market puzzle. There are voices saying that the MOE should hand over the job-market task to the appropriate organization and take a step away from the education of humanities majors.

Nevertheless, the humanities have already long lost their standing due to not only the MOE policies, but also because of the former and incumbent president’s preference for certain majors, as noted previously. Because it is mostly the “useless” humanities departments that face cutbacks on campus, the humanities have been losing their place within South Korean society as well. It has been several years since people started noticing “the fall of the humanities.”

Another problem with the continuous department closings is that there have been no conversations or prior settlements reached between college administrations and students in most cases. In other words, students who planned to pursue their interests in the humanities face an abrupt notice that their major no longer exists in the middle of the semester. When considering the fact that students are one of the most important members of a campus, such unilateral communication sounds unreal, but that is how South Korean universities work.

Overall, South Korean colleges and the government should consider a more agreeable and sensible move when dealing with the humanities. Most of all, they should first give the humanities a place to stand on campus as it should be, instead of only “priming” the skills that company employers want from students.

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