

Seoul desperate to tackle drastic demographic decline



In the face of a drastic decline in population, the government has decided to adopt a package of measures designed to attract around 300,000 foreign students by 2027. The Ministry of Education's Study 300K Project also seeks to secure foreign workers required by state-of-the art industries in advance. For one thing, the ministry plans to raise the proportion of students with master's and doctorate degrees in science and engineering sectors ― to up to 45 percent of all scholarship recipients.



The ambitious plan, unveiled by Education Minister Lee Ju-ho Wednesday, came in a desperate bid to find solutions to the tricky issues resulting from Korea's low birth rate. The sharp decline in population has been stoking concerns over the possibility of provincial towns hollowing out, coupled with labor shortages in the manufacturing, services and high-tech sectors.



The project features, among other things, the formation of task force teams made up of representatives from domestic universities, provincial governments and enterprises to attract foreign students by offering opportunities to carry out their career paths. It also seeks to encourage talented students for high tech industries such as semiconductors, batteries and artificial intelligence (AI).



Since the nation implemented the Study Korea Project in 2005, the number of foreign students studying at domestic universities continued to increase to a record 160,000 last year. Yet Korea accounts for only 2 percent of the entire global study abroad market. The proportion of foreign students at domestic universities stands at only 3.7 percent, about half the average rate of 6.6 percent of other OECD countries.



Global competition has been escalating to attract foreign students. The United Kingdom is poised to pour 35 billion pounds ($44.6 billion), while France and Japan are eager to encourage some 500,000 and 380,000 students from abroad by 2027, respectively. With the goal of outmaneuvering these countries, Seoul needs to map out outstanding policies, tactics and incentives to attract promising students. Steps are also needed to provide the students with more chances to get jobs after graduation and proper conditions to permanently reside in the country.



Worse still, an increasing number of foreign students have been quitting in the middle of the scholastic process. More than 36,000 foreign students have so far left schools. This has partly been prompted by the practices of lowering student visa issuance standards. But more importantly, the universities, especially the regional ones, mostly suffering from financial difficulties, have failed to offer proper education and living conditions for the foreign students.



The ministry's program is also focusing on attracting more foreign students by, for instance, lowering the standards of the Test of Proficiency in Korea (TOPIK) and the financial capabilities. This is, however, is contrary to the reality. For starters, many of the foreign students allegedly have setback in catching up with the curriculum due chiefly to their lack of Korean proficiency.



The ministry and university authorities should first grasp the exact reason of the foreign students' quitting the school. And then they should take measures to help them study and live here. The regional universities, suffering from poor infrastructure facilities, should combine closely work together to jointly operate programs assisting the students.



Only 19 percent of the foreign students either enter graduate schools or get jobs after graduation here. Now the government authorities and businesses, alike, should double down on efforts to induce high quality talents by visiting them overseas. Deregulation is also necessary to ease issuance of visas to match the needs from specific regions and industries. Businesses should be able to utilize the foreign students as interns more easily through such deregulations. An increasing number of foreign students will attempt to enter Korean universities should they be able to map out their career paths based on what they learned at domestic schools.



