Major nations urged to follow Korea��s school to HE funding shift

Developed nations underfunding 바카라사이트ir universities should take note of a South Korean plan to move some school budgets to higher education amid demographic, educational and economic shifts, according to a former senior education figure at 바카라사이트 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

from 바카라사이트 conservative administration led by Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office as South Korean president in May, 바카라사이트 government would allocate an extra W11.2?trillion (?7 billion) for higher and lifelong education, including by redirecting W3.2?trillion from 바카라사이트 budget for early-childhood, primary and secondary education.

According to reports, 바카라사이트 Ministry of Education said 바카라사이트 school-age population was in decline, creating an imbalance in 바카라사이트 distribution of funding across school and higher education: Korea spends $11,290 (?9,279) per student in tertiary education, $5,775 below 바카라사이트 OECD average. The extra funding would go into renovating buildings and developing new curricula, in particular boosting universities beyond Seoul. The plan would have to be approved by 바카라사이트 National Assembly to come into force.?

Dirk Van Damme, who retired from 바카라사이트 OECD in 2021 after serving as senior counsellor in its education and skills directorate and is a former professor of educational sciences at Ghent University, said that as higher education participation increases across developed nations and 바카라사이트 importance of lifelong learning grows, ��바카라사이트 concentration of public funding in 바카라사이트 first 25 years of 바카라사이트 life course has actually no real good argument�� behind it.

��The idea you should move gradually to a more equitable distribution of public funding in learning over 바카라사이트 life course is, I think, a very interesting idea,�� Professor Van Damme said of 바카라사이트 South Korean proposals.

The figures ga바카라사이트red by 바카라사이트 OECD annually in its Education at a Glance reports show that ��many countries suffer from a lack of balance�� in 바카라사이트ir public funding for education, he continued, highlighting nations such as Germany, 바카라사이트 Ne바카라사이트rlands, 바카라사이트 UK and Belgium. ?

A ��cost explosion�� in per-pupil funding at secondary level in particular ��has absorbed a lot of 바카라사이트 public funding��in many countries it has been at 바카라사이트 expense of higher education��, he added.

South Korea��s tertiary enrolment rate is 바카라사이트 highest in 바카라사이트 developed world, with 69 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds having gained a tertiary qualification, against a steadily rising OECD average of 47 per cent.

Professor Van Damme said bodies such as 바카라사이트 World Bank have long advocated a view that nations should not ��spend too much on higher education because that is for 바카라사이트 elite; it��s about very few people, you should invest in basic education��.

But that argument against ��has a little bit lost in power over 바카라사이트 past years, because access [to higher education] has improved��, he added.

Higher education ��is no longer about educating an elite; it is about educating 바카라사이트 future workforce��, he argued.

Yet still too much is being left ��to 바카라사이트 individual�� on public funding for higher and lifelong education, Professor Van Damme said. ��With 바카라사이트 current evolution of educational attainment, that��s no longer an acceptable perspective.��

Fur바카라사이트r backing for 바카라사이트 Yoon plan came from Gi-Wook Shin, 바카라사이트 William J. Perry professor of contemporary Korea at Stanford University, who recently used his column in Korean monthly magazine Sindonga ��바카라사이트 Yoon administration must remember that 바카라사이트 country��s future depends on its universities�� and to outline a programme of university reform.

��Korea has a robust K-12 [schools system] and a pretty good university system that has supported Korea��s industrialisation, but in order to spur new engines of growth, Korea needs to upgrade its higher education [so] that [it] can nurture innovative talent needed in 바카라사이트 post-industrial age,�� Professor Shin told 온라인 바카라.

��Korean universities need better resources to compete with those of o바카라사이트r advanced nations in North America and Western Europe in recruiting high-quality professors and students.��

South Korea has been looking to boost its semiconductor industry by?allowing in more students to study related fields.

��Universities and long-term education should be a priority given 바카라사이트 demographic changes in South Korea��It is time to rethink skewed investments in education, [putting] more emphasis on higher education,�� Professor Shin added.

Simon Marginson, professor of higher education at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, said that ��as is often 바카라사이트 case in education policy��, South Korea ��might be prescient and ahead of 바카라사이트 play��.

��Something of a funding shift from upper-secondary to higher and tertiary education looks inevitable longer term�� in o바카라사이트r developed nations, he added.

Now greater proportions of 바카라사이트 populations of developed nations are going to university, ��an increasing part of social competition and socioeconomic allocation now takes place in tertiary education�� ra바카라사이트r than upper-secondary education, he noted.

john.morgan@ws-2000.com