▲ Choi Sung-ho

An OECD survey shows that Korean students are the unhappiest among the students of the 65 member countries when asked “Are you happy at school?” Shocked by the result, experts pointed out the Korea’s rote learning to blame. 

American futurist Alvin Toffler who visited Korea in 2007 said “The current (Korean) education system is a simulation of factories where children are forced to repeat tasks over and over again, much like an assembly line”. He pointed out Korea must promote imaginative and creative minds if it wants to play a role in leading the world in the coming age. 

Yet, the Korean education system and practice seems not to be changed a bit since his advice. This might be the reason that it encouraged a person like Choi Sung-ho who founded Qniversity and serving as the chancellor. 

Ambitiously nestled in Samseong-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, Qniversity encourages unique ideas, throws questions and resolves curiosity. “I think the purpose of learning is to build curiosity, throw a question and resolve it. Curiosity and adventurous spirit make man special. The process to find the resolution is but the true education and the resolution becomes our knowledge. I believe that rote learning discourages these two great values so I founded Qniversity to make it right.”

Humans have passed agricultural and industrial revolutions. We are now living in the age of knowledge revolution. Knowledge revolution requires creativities and flexibility more than ever before so the education should better focus on that value. 

Where came the finding of gravity. It came from a man who gave a step deeper thought “Why the apple drops to the earth?” It is a good example of a simple curiosity being developed into a resolution, the resolution that has been a huge influence and contribution to the advancement of physics and science of the man. 

There is no border between professors and students at Qniversity since everybody can play the both roles. The ingenious ideas suggested on <Qniversity Academic Journal Vol.1> might make you wow and smile: ‘You Are a Zombie – Zombie Virus Cure’ or ‘The Method of Slowing Down the Time’.

Choi deliberately dropped out of a medical school to found Qniversity. “Both my parents are doctors. They wanted to walk the same path so I did as they wished. What I found was tons of things to learn and an exam a week. For me, it was the ‘KING’ of rote learning. The more I felt that, the more I desired my own way of learning about things. I believed there must be people who felt the same sentiment like me. So I quit the school and established Qniversity.”

Qniversity works this way: 4 semesters/2 years, choice of any subject, listen to any lecture, give any lecture to others, and everybody’s welcome but qualification is not government approved: this is because Choi wants to secure its autonomous value. 

Join Qniversity, you will find all walks of life from businessmen to artists. They call each other ‘researcher’ instead of name and there is no rank or set curriculum. You can choose any subject you want. Choi, for example, gives lectures on math and science. The ‘curiosity lecture’ taken place every Wednesday especially is popular since the theme of the lecture is unveiled on the day of the lecture. 

“I want to spread to the people that there is a place like Qniversity where we can learn, research and develop what we are interested in and how we can resolve it on our own way. I imagine an age in which everybody is researching on something and introduce like “I’m Choi who is researching on math and science at the moment.” 

If this makes you raise your curiosity, you are highly recommended to join Qniversity to meet unique researchers and be a researcher on your own curiosity.