A professor prepares for online instruction at Dankook University in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on Aug. 31, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Half of all universities in South Korea may disappear within the next 25 years, a report said Sunday.
The Seoul National University and the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs reported that there will be around 190 universities remaining in the period from 2042 to 2046.
In regions outside of Seoul, only 146 (49.4 percent) out of 331 universities will remain, the report said.
Calculating the number of childbirths in each region, the changes in the number of students at elementary, middle, and high schools, and the enrollment rate at universities, the report predicted that approximately 48 percent of all children born after 2027, and 49 percent of those born between 2042 and 2046 will be born in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.
Consequently, regions outside of Seoul and Gyeonggi will begin to witness drops in the number of students at elementary, middle, and high schools between the years 2037 and 2041. In 2042, provincial universities will begin to face a survival crisis as they are hit by the lack of enrolment.
“A lack of students leads to a lack of school income. The number of irregular workers will rise to replace regular school staff,” said Lee Dong-kyu, a disaster and emergency management professor at Dong-A University who spearheaded the study.
“Provincial universities will struggle with deteriorating quality of education, widening the gap between them and schools in the Greater Seoul Metropolitan Area.”
Population migration caused by widening educational quality between universities in Seoul and non-Seoul regions may also become a source of conflict between younger generations, the report argues, as higher taxes will be imposed on younger residents living in the greater Seoul area, while other provinces will only become more dependent on Seoul as their income from provincial taxes decreases.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
