Cover Story

By Lee Jae-won
Associate Editor of Culture Section


As mentioned in the previous article, the Ministry of Education announced which universities it has selected for the “Program for Industry needs-Matched Education (PRIME) Project” on May 3. As of now, those chosen universities have to begin merging, combining, and establishing departments.

The PRIME Project has drawn lots of attention since there was enormous support for it. Actually, department reforms for the employment rate led by the ministry or the university itself are not a first. What do the reforms really mean to those who are enrolled in departments that are going to change? Under the theme of the departmental reforms for the employment rate, The Argus met four students who faced or will face changes to their departments.


My university has been selected for the PRIME Project. The university is going to make a new convergence engineering major, combining existing departments. I find it good that the entrance quota in engineering-related majors has increased. The school is likely to purchase new laboratory equipment and improve scholarships and its facilities thanks to PRIME.
But I have also something to worry about. A few years ago, because of a project similar to PRIME, the school combined four departments into one major named the Department of Mechanical Engineering. After the project ended, however, the engineering major split into four departments again. I am worried about the same thing occurring with PRIME. Besides, it might lead to an oversupply of engineering-related majors if the school simply expands the number of those majors. Since many engineering students are still yet to be employed, I believe it is not so much the increasing number of engineering majors as the increasing number of jobs that counts.

Ten years ago, Ewha Womans University let non-education major students complete a course in teaching. At that time, the school thought that the “societal demand” for teaching jobs would grow. Now, the university is reducing the fixed number of students in the College of Education. Counter to their expectation, the demand is not that high now. As seen from this example, the “societal demand” is not easy to predict. The Ministry of Education started the PRIME project citing “industry needs.” But I still doubt that “industry needs” will be the same as time goes by.
 Moreover, the project distorts the nature of education. The PRIME Project, designed to solve the job crisis, is not a fundamental solution. The project just makes several departments grow, aiming at companies’ needs. It just simply matches the logic of capital. In the long run, college students will lose their voice to criticize companies as many of whom study in majors that companies prefer .

On Jan. 5 of this year, the student president of my department sent a message in an online department chat room. It was to inform us that the school would hold a meeting with students about the abolishment of the department on Jan. 7. Since that time was during winter vacation, many of the students in my major did not participate in the meeting.
Actually, I was at the meeting. The school seemed to have already decided on the abolishment. At the meeting, school officials just answered students’ questions rather than collecting their opinions. One student said, “Should you not at least apologize to students?” to an official. Then, he said, “Why do I have to say sorry to you?” The officials explained that it had to close my department as it was not useful for increasing the employment rate, which is important for the PRIME Project. However, my major has not produced graduates yet, so the employment rate of my department is impossible to compare with other majors. I still cannot understand the school’s explanation.

Konkuk University unilaterally notified students in 2015 that the departments of film and image would merge into one major from 2016. In 2015, the university mentioned two reasons for such a merger.
 First, the employment rate of the film major is low. The film major in the College of Arts is not basically made for employment. The value of film and art is not in the employment rate. So why did the school establish this major if they will try to close it just because of the low employment rate? In addition, many film graduates are not counted toward the employment rate even though they get a job using their major. With the school’s attempt to combine two different majors with the only standard being the “employment rate,” it has admitted itself as a place seeking only “student employability.”
Second, the university said no problems would happen after the consolidation. The film major is a technical one, impossible to easily combine with another department. Additionally, the school unveiled it would supplement professors after the two majors became a big one. However, Konkuk University at that time just tried to urgently push forward this issue without any specific plans for professors and education programs of a new major.  

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