Increasing Opportunities for 'Certification After Field Experience'... "Helps Improve Employment Rates"

Ministry of Employment Announces Institutions for Process Evaluation-Based National Technical Qualification Training
438 Institutions and 1,187 Courses Selected... Plans to Expand to Public Education Institutions
"Significant Expansion of Vocational High Schools... Recognized as Practical 'Premium Qualifications'"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 28th the institutions authorized to operate education and training courses for acquiring process evaluation-type national technical qualifications this year.

The process evaluation-type system differs from the traditional examination-type qualifications, which allowed obtaining certificates by passing written exams alone. Instead, it requires participants to attend practical, field-oriented classes diligently to acquire national technical qualifications.

Since the introduction of the process evaluation-type national technical qualification system in 2015, the number of participants and certificate holders has rapidly increased. Those hired have adapted relatively quickly to on-site work, earning favorable evaluations from companies.

Moreover, employees who have completed the process evaluation-type education and training courses and obtained certificates to secure employment in their respective fields have positively evaluated the process evaluation-type qualification system as follows.

This year, a total of 1,187 courses from 438 institutions were selected for the process evaluation-type qualification education and training courses. The announced courses were finalized after document and on-site reviews, consultations with related ministries, and deliberation by the 'National Technical Qualification Policy Deliberation Committee.'

The Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to expand the process evaluation-type qualifications among public educational institutions. In particular, to improve the employment rate of vocational high school graduates, the number of industrial engineer qualification acquisition courses at vocational high schools has been significantly increased from 95 to 197.

For vocational high schools, a total of 281 courses will be operated at 87 schools this year, with an average support fund of around 40 million KRW per school. The Korea Polytechnics will operate 51 courses across 32 campuses in 2020.

Additionally, 29 courses at 9 military-affiliated educational institutions and 2 courses at 2 training institutions for persons with disabilities will be available, enabling qualification acquisition through various education and training institutions.

Institutions operating process evaluation-type qualification courses must conduct internal evaluations for trainees according to the 'Education and Training Course Organization Standards' for each category.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea will conduct external evaluations and regular monitoring for all education and training institutions to ensure the quality management of the process evaluation-type qualification system.

Jang Shin-cheol, Director of the Vocational Competency Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, explained, "Recently, process evaluation-type qualifications have been recognized by various companies as practical, 'premium (名品) qualifications,' and a total of 9,880 people have obtained process evaluation-type qualifications to date."

He added, "This year, especially to assist employment for graduates of specialized and vocational high schools, we have significantly expanded the industrial engineer qualification acquisition courses, which have higher employment rates than technician qualifications, and increased the level of support."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.