SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's education minister Lee Ju-ho said Monday the government-led university reform drive will continue, as the country forces restructuring on public universities facing financial troubles.

"Some people seem to believe (the reform drive) is just a temporary measure put in place at the end of the administration's term, but it is absolutely not the case," Lee said during a meeting in Seoul with the heads of 38 local universities. " Without reforms, the future of universities will be dark."

Higher learning institutions in the country will see a 40 percent drop in the number of college freshmen in 12 years, which necessitates preparations on the part of uncompetitive colleges, the minister added.

The remarks came after the government asked five most underperforming public universities to draw up reform measures by January and put them under government supervision.

The five state-funded four-year universities -- Kangwon National University, Chungbuk National University, Gangneung-Wonju National University, Kunsan National University and Busan National University of Education -- will be subject to budget cuts and other penalties unless their restructuring plans show progress.

In a similar move, the education authorities said earlier this month they will reduce state funding for 43 low-ranked private universities starting next year. The schools were weeded out based on criteria including student enrolment rate, graduate employment rate and tuition fee levels.

Universities are also under pressure to scrap the direct election of school presidents, which often turned into a hotbed of corruption and infighting.

The set of measures came as the South Korean government is under increasing pressure from students, civic groups and lawmakers from opposite ends of the political spectrum to cut the country's unusually high college tuition fees.

Amid growing student discontent that has led to weeks of protests, the issue has become one of the biggest political issues. Major political parties, both left and right, rushed to come up with their own plans to ease the tuition burden.

Marking the latest in a series of demonstrations, students in the southern city of Gwangju staged a series of one-man protests and other performances Monday. Students at a handful of universities nationwide are also planning to boycott classes Thursday in protest.

Still, the government's calls on local universities to cut tuition fees were largely ignored, prompting the authorities to take more drastic measures to jolt them into action.