By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

Seoul National University (SNU) president Chung Un-chan Monday urged the government to reconsider its ban on the high school ranking system.

Chung, who attended a seminar held by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Cheju Island, said the purpose of education is not only teaching but also selecting good students.

He called on the government to consider adopting a high school ranking system to improve nation’s competitiveness through quality education.

``If a raw material is bad, we can’t make a good product even if we have good manufacturing skills. Our school wants to select the best students possible and offers them good lectures,’’ he said.

The comments signaled a second round of conflict between the SNU president and the education policies of the President Roh Moo-hyun’s administration.

Chung reaffirmed his firm position on his school’s new admissions plan for 2008, which the government said cannot be accepted under the current education policy.

Roh said early this month that the government will not allow SNU to introduce the new admissions plan, which he claimed is designed to revive the school’s own test.

The government has also maintained a ban on the high school ranking system, admissions by donations, and on universities establishing individual admission tests.

``The government’s policy aims to provide equal education to students in all universities without university ranking, but it is improper in the era of globalization,’’ Chung said.

He also said SNU will not change its admissions plan, which will put more weight on essays in various subjects, despite the government’s rejection and threats to impose financial sanctions on the school.

Chung claimed SNU’s essay test will be different from what the government is banning, saying the test aims to select students who can answer questions based on what they have learned at high school.

A pan-national association of national universities’ professors also held a meeting on Monday and protested the government’s reform measures for universities, claiming the measures hamper schools’ autonomy.

``The controversy surrounding SNU’s admissions plan has occurred because the government pushes a school’s educational reform measure in a political way,’’ the professors said.

Some 30 professors at the meeting said they see the government’s move as an infringement of universities’ autonomy, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, pledging to take countermeasures against the authority’s interferences in school matters.

The professors also protested the law enabling the National Election Commission to take charge of national universities’ election of presidents, claiming the law infringes on universities’ autonomy.

``We will file a petition with the Constitutional Court if the government does not revise it,’’ they said, adding they collected signatures of 3,900 professors from 45 national universities for the petition.

``The government pushes ahead with educational policies that infringe on universities’ autonomy. We recognize the need for reform, but those in universities should be the subject of the reform,’’ said Kim Song-hee, president of the professors’ association.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr