Scientific community protests once morest “lower budget leveling”
Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Strategy and Finance notified of ‘non-acceptance’
Ministry of Economy and Finance passes special accounting bill ‘turning around’
The reform plan of the financial authorities, which tried to use the surplus education funds from elementary and secondary education to develop science and technology in line with the demographic change, was eventually abandoned. The ministry in charge of the budget of the four major institutes of science and technology (KAIST), including the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), has been transferred to the Ministry of Education, and the budget has been reduced further, failing to overcome the wall of doubt that it will be leveled down along with general universities.
On the 13th, the Ministry of Science and ICT finally notified the Ministry of Strategy and Finance of its ‘non-acceptance’ position on the plan to transfer the budget of the four major science and technology institutes to the special account for higher education and lifelong education. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance decided to accept the positions of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the four major institutes of science and technology.
Inside the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, it was reported that they tried to provide more financial support to the four major science and technology institutes, but fell into a battle for truth and believed that too much time and effort was wasted in this process.
In response, it was decided to change the policy to focus on passing the bill to introduce the special accounting for higher and lifelong education support while leaving the budget for the four major science and technology institutes unchanged.
The four major science and technology institutes are KAIST, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), Ulsan Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST). Unlike general universities under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and ICT takes charge of the budget and operation according to a special law.
The financial authorities have pushed ahead with the introduction of a special account for higher and lifelong education support to expand the use of education subsidies, which were limited in use for elementary and secondary education, to higher education in the face of a sharp decline in the school-age population.
It found a new use in the field of education to minimize opposition from the education community following the reform of the education subsidy system. In this process, the financial authorities proposed a plan to transfer the budget of the four major science and technology institutes to the special account for higher and lifelong education support. By creating a new instrument called Special Accounting for Support for Higher and Lifelong Education, we tried to include the four major institutes of science and technology in this instrument to additionally invest overflowing resources in elementary and secondary schools.
Inside the financial authorities, it was analyzed that such a reorganization would allow an additional budget of 10 to 20 billion won to be injected into each science and technology institute every year.
However, the scientific community opposed this idea. The Institute of Science and Technology said, “When it comes to special accounting, the budget planning and execution department is from the Ministry of Science and ICT to the Ministry of Education, and the budget deliberation and resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee is changed from the Science and Technology Information Broadcasting and Communications Committee to the Education Committee. The budget flowing into the country will be leveled down,” he argued.
Regarding this, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance explained that even if it went to special accounting, the four major institutes of science and technology are still under the supervision of the Minister of Science and Technology under special laws such as the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology Act, so they are not controlled by the Ministry of Education, but failed to persuade.
Reporter Sejong Lee Young-joon
