Page 59 - EducationWorld June 2022_Neat

“We can hardly expect dramatic change and innovations in
education policies at the moment,” says Suyoun Byoun, a
higher education researcher. Dr. Byoun doubts that the new
government is “likely to gain enough public support to start
new innovations” aimed at reforming the sector, which she
describes is in “urgent” need of consolidation.
“It will be challenging for Prof. Kim to make big changes
because education policy is such a politicised issue,” agrees
Jae-Eun Jon, an associate professor of education at Han-
kuk, who notes that already plans to merge the country’s
ministries of education and science have been kicked down
the road. Still, Dr. Jon is hopeful that the incoming minister
will push forward “urgent agendas for higher education”.
Top among these include dropping enrolment due to
Korea’s demographic decline, which has already prompted European students in Canada: sharp numbers increase
closure of universities and is expected to get worse. Another
is addressing Korea’s urban-rural divide, with universities study permit holders in 2021 from various countries show
outside Seoul seen as less prestigious and are often strapped there is an increase of between 10-80 percent from some
for resources. western European nations last year compared with pre-
Perhaps more controversially, Prof. Kim may fight for pandemic levels.
raising tuition fees, which have remained frozen for 13 This compares with total holders of Canadian study per-
years. Dr. Jon predicts that institutions will lobby hard to mits, as at December 31, 2021, of 621,000 from all coun-
release tuition caps, something the incoming minister has tries, a figure that was still 3 percent below the number of
previously supported. Still, she cautions this may not prove permit holders at the same time in 2019.
easy. “This is a bipartisan issue that two big parties must Canada-based recruitment platform ApplyBoard, which
agree on, so (lobbying for an increase) wouldn’t be an easy highlighted the figures in an ‘insights’ blog, says 37 of 44
task,” Dr. Jon says. European countries saw growth in study permit numbers
Currently, the government evaluates universities on last year that were higher than overall growth. “While it’s
numerous indicators to determine its financial support, well-documented that Covid-19 created pent-up demand
putting “much burden and pressure on HEIs, taking away for international education from students in all countries,
resources and energy” from their other activities, says Dr. this concentrated spike in interest across Europe looks to
Jon. be a product of Brexit,” says the blog. “European students
The future education minister should also focus on giv- who previously would’ve opted to take advantage of reduced
ing universities more leeway to manage themselves, says tuition fees at UK institutions are now casting their search
Hyun Chong Lee, executive director of the Higher Educa- wider, pursuing education opportunities in Canada.”
tion Research Institute at Hanyang University. “His top Data from the UK suggests there has been a collapse
priorities should be issues of university autonomy and ac- in undergraduate recruitment from European Union na-
countability. To pursue these two goals, he must focus on tions in 2021-2022, the first academic year since a Brexit-
(universities’) sustainable development,” says Prof. Lee. induced change in rules that mean EU students face higher
But if Korea’s next education minister is to succeed, his fees and no access to government-backed loans.
greatest obstacle may be changing the minds of the very UCAS data on undergraduates, as well as figures on is-
institutions under his charge. “Considering the resistance sued study visas, suggest that student mobility has been
of HEIs to change, which I think most problematic, the gov- particularly limited in Eastern European countries. How-
ernment also needs to stimulate and support their change ever, the numbers in the UK from western European na-
for the future, when a considerable number of them may tions, where Canada has mainly seen an uplift, still appear
disappear,” says Jon. to have fallen by substantial amounts. For instance, while
about 3,800 UK study visas were issued to German citizens
CANADA in 2021, UK universities had about 6,400 entrants from
Brexit benefit Germany in 2019-20.
Among the largest European nations, German citizens
A RISE IN THE NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL represented the biggest rise in Canadian study permit hold-
students from Europe going to Canada seems to be ers last year, growing 70 percent from 2019 to about 5,000.
the “product” of Brexit, according to an analysis of
latest trends in immigration data. Figures from Immigra- (Excerpted and adapted from †e Economist and Times
tion, Refugees and Citizenship Canada on the number of Higher Education)

JUNE 2022 EDUCATIONWORLD 59