Pukyong National University

'Find a win-win solution for the coexistence of regional community and local universities.'

- The 'Educational Decentralization Forum of 2021' was held on 17th … a keynote speech by President Jang Young-Soo'

△ Participants of the 'Educational Decentralization Forum of 2021' are taking commemorative photos. ⓒ Photo Lee Sung-Jae (PR Team)

The mayor of Busan, the school superintendent of Busan, and presidents of local universities in Busan gathered in one place to put their heads together to find a win-win solution for coexistence between local communities and local universities.

The '2021 Educational Decentralization Forum', hosted by the city of Busan and Busan Institute for Talent & Lifelong Education (BIT) and managed by KNN, Busan Human Resources Forum, and Busan Universities, was held at the BEXCO Convention Hall in Busan on the afternoon of May 17th.

To discuss how to overcome the crisis caused by the decline in the school-age population, this event was held under the theme of 'The Crisis of Local Colleges is a Crisis of the Community,' and included President Jang Young-Soo, Busan Mayor Park Heong-Joon, School Superintendent of Busan city Kim Seok-Jun, President Cha Jeong-In of Pusan National University (PNU), President Chun Ho-Hwan of Tongmyong University, Chairman Gang Byung-Joong of KNN, Directors of Busan Institute for Talent & Lifelong Education, and others.

In a congratulatory speech, Mayor Park Heong-Joon said, "The problem of local universities is directly connected to the problem of the local economy and the future of the youth," he added, "We are moving forward with the belief that everything in Busan depends on establishing a proper industry-academic cooperation system and developing innovative private capabilities. We will strive towards new industry-academia cooperation such as sharing universities."

On the day the forum was held, President Jang Young-Soo, National Assemblyman Lee Gwang-Jae, and Superintendent of Busan Kim Seok-Joon presented as keynote speakers and gave presentations and discussions over three sessions.

President Jang Young-Soo, who was the first to proceed the presentation as a keynote speaker in Session 1, diagnosed the state of crisis at local universities with the theme of 'The Era of Declining School-Age Population, and the Role and Future of Local Colleges' and presented about the roles of universities in this state of crisis, based on actual cases of universities.

President Jang Young-Soo said, "The role of universities is to innovate education and research for the future, share their achievements with other regions and countries, and converge for innovations," and he stressed, "Innovation in universities has been in one direction so far, but it is the time to innovate in multiple directions."

President Jang cited examples of innovation, such as the restructuring of the academic organization at Pukyong National University, "In order to foster the eight new industrial sectors recently announced by the government, local universities should also actively cooperate with local governments, companies, and offices of education, such as sharing curriculum and research results."

"The government should guarantee a wide range of autonomy to local universities. To preserve the characteristics of universities, regulations must be greatly eased, such as expanding autonomy in profitable businesses. In addition, since it is difficult to innovate because of the management of the indicators for the three-periodic university evaluation, it is necessary to support the university to innovate if the minimum conditions are met," he pointed out.

President Jang said, "Only when Busan becomes an attractive area, rather than a region where people leave, it will lead to an influx of high-flyers, and they will settle down. I hope that local governments will create future jobs suitable for new industries, create urban convergence special zones, and foster excellent small and medium-sized enterprises to create high-quality jobs. I think it might be a good idea for local governments to provide land to companies for free so that they can run companies and recruit local talent."

The last thing he said, "When there is no place to go down, when we innovate with everything at the origin without vested interests, we can rise to the top. I hope that this crisis will be an opportunity for us to stand tall."

Following the presentation of President Jang Young-Soo, Professor Hwang Ki-Sik of Dong-A University, Professor Kim Jong-Han of Kyungsung University, Professor Lee Young-Yil of Busan University of Foreign Studies, Do Yong-hoi, the Standing Committee Chairman of Planning, Finance, and Economic Affairs at Busan Metropolitan Council, and Kim Ki-hwan, Director of Growth Strategy Bureau at Busan Metropolitan Council, were the debaters under the chairmanship of Ko Young-Sam, Director of Busan Institute for Talent & Lifelong Education.

On the day, in the educational decentralization forum, the second session was held on the subject of 'A World without an Education Gap, Digital Jiphyeonjeon (Hall of Worthies)' by Assemblyman Lee Gwang-Jae, and the third session on 'Sustainability of Developing Local Talent' by Busan Superintendent Kim Seok-Joon. <Pukyong Today>

△ President Jang Young-Soo attended the 'Educational Decentralization Forum of 2021'

△ Session 1 of the 'Educational Decentralization Forum of 2021' is in progress.

△ The first session keynote speaker, President Jang Young-Soo, is presenting.

△ After the keynote presentation of Session 1, the discussion is in progress.