During recent weeks, there has been a growing movement of uprising's against women's universities in Korea. So will they become a thing of the past? We uncover this rising debate and what current students are saying!
It is no secret that the birth rate in Korea has hit a global record low, and as a matter of fact, Korea keeps breaking it's own record. Impressive? Well, not really. Imagine schools and university's and the education system in ten or fifteen years time, having to change how it functions, closing down education centers, and perhaps recruiting foreign students in order for the businesses to stay open? This is now turning into a reality in South Korea.
For more on Korea's birthrate making a "U-turn":
In recent weeks there has been rising tensions between Dongduk Women's University students and the administration, as to whether or not Korea still needs Women only education centers.
Earlier last month, Dongduk Women's University in northern Seoul held a meeting to establish a university development plan at the headquarters level, during which a transition to a coed school was suggested, citing the decrease in the country's school-age population.
"The decline in the school-age population is likely to make it difficult to recruit new students in the future. The transition to coeducation can be an alternative", the school official said.
Let's take a look at this video.
Police called to campus
Moves to turn South Korea’s Dongduk Women’s University into a coeducational institution sparked a fierce response from the university’s students this month. The protests, which began on 11 November, rapidly intensified, involving hundreds of students, with police called to the campus this Monday.
The protests have been supported by several other women-only universities. By November 13th, student councils from five of the seven women’s universities in South Korea, excluding the prestigious Ewha Womans University in Seoul, had joined in solidarity protests against coeducation, including moves at Dongduk and another university to admit male international students in new departments or international sections at women’s universities.
![A student holds a sign about boycotting classes at Dongduk Women's University on Tuesday [LEE TAE-HEE]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/85bb20_6bde596ce1744c469864cd71357fd9d0~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_857,h_472,al_c,q_90,enc_auto/85bb20_6bde596ce1744c469864cd71357fd9d0~mv2.png)
They posted manifestos across campus, spray-painted slogans on walls such as "better to perish than open up", launched a petition campaign, and held highly visible demonstrations and sit-downs. University buildings were occupied, and lectures boycotted on masse.
Social Media protests:
Something to think about
This is not the first time a South Korean women’s university has faced such controversy. Similar proposals at Duksung Women’s University in 2015 and Sungshin Women’s University in 2018 were withdrawn following fierce student opposition.
The student council demanded the university transparently share its plans with students and halt plans to admit male students. However, the question remains, does Korea need to face the reality of a gender fluid society, and the changing times that it is facing with it's age demographic and low birth rate? Or continue to walk into deeper denial over the bleak situation?
Let us know your thoughts on this topic in the comments below.
Opmerkingen