200 Specialized Vocational High Schools to Be Founded

Vocational high schools, which focus on teaching students basic work skills for employment, will be separated into regular and specialized vocational high schools. The specialized vocational high schools will focus on automobile design, cooking, game, internet, and other such professional areas.

There are currently 64 of these schools and it has been decided that this number will increase to 200 by 2010, and that they would be given autonomy in hiring teachers, planning the curriculum, and selecting students.

Starting next year, scholarship funding for these students will be gradually increased and it has been recommended that the number of students for non-scheduled and early admission in the same college departments be expanded, up to 3% outside the quota for national universities.

Presidential Committee on Education Innovation Chairman Jeon Seong-eun reported the “Vocational Education System Innovation Plan” on May 12, during the national issues meeting presided over by Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan.

The Presidential Committee on Education Innovation, along with the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development, will devise detailed plans and amend related legal statutes such as the professional education training promotion law and elementary, middle, and high school laws.

Specialized schools will make agreements with local governments, businesses, and the central government ministries to develop these schools into distinguished specialized high schools, but the schools will be given more autonomy.

The original vocational high schools will become basic employment education institutes, and will focus on basic skills to enhance the possibility of employment, such as problem solving and communication skills.

The 196 comprehensive high schools which have separate humanities and profession programs will combine the programs into integrated high schools to enable cross-selection of the curriculum. This combining process will start next year in the farming and fishing regions, and expand nationwide by 2010.

Plans such as training in other subjects for excess teachers in certain subjects, expanding employment of field experts as teachers, and inviting skilled personnel as principals will be actively implemented.

The Presidential Committee on Education Innovation decided to open job training courses for continuing education and re-education for workers and adults to develop skills, and to increase aid for the employment insurance fund.

It has also been decided to introduce the “vocational high school and junior college system,” in which businesses, vocational high schools, and junior colleges are all involved. This program will have customized curriculums and students of this program will be able to enter junior colleges without taking the entrance exam.

In-Chul Lee inchul@donga.com