SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- The education ministry has singled out five uncompetitive state-funded universities in preparation to force them to carry out reforms aimed at improving the quality of their education, officials said Friday.

The move is the latest in a nationwide series of education reforms to weed out low-performing schools accused of wasting taxpayers' money.

The five -- Kangwon National University, Gangneung-Wonju National University, Kunsan National University, Chungbuk National University and Busan National University of Education -- were ranked in the bottom 15 percent in the government's latest assessment, based on such criteria as employment rate, foreign student service, tuition and scholarships, the ministry said in a release.

Calls are growing for restructuring national universities that fail to attract enough students and meet academic demands, in tandem with an education reform drive to weed out poorly managed schools and address the problem of rising tuition.

The five universities named have to draw up plans for restructuring projects, including reforming the college chief election system and merging unpopular departments, by the end of January and then have regular monitoring by education authorities each quarter.

If low-ranking schools fail to fulfill their reform pledge over a one-year period, they will face such disadvantages as cuts in state budget and admission quotas, ministry officials said.