Gyeonggi Province and Education Office to Operate 5-Year 'Gyeonggi Artificial Intelligence School' for High Schools and Junior Colleges

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education have partnered with Korea IBM to operate a workforce training program in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry sector that links three years of high school and two years of junior college education to cultivate local talent needed by companies.

Students who complete the related education over five years at the partnered high schools and junior colleges and graduate will be offered paid internship opportunities at the partner companies, and if they wish to seek employment, they will receive benefits such as exemption from document screening.

On the 18th, Gyeonggi Province signed a business agreement titled "Promotion and Expansion of Gyeonggi P-TECH (Gyeonggi AI School)" at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office, attended by Lee Yong-cheol, Deputy Governor for Administration of Gyeonggi Province, Lee Jae-jung, Superintendent of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, and Won Sung-sik, President of Korea IBM.

P-TECH is a five-year integrated curriculum linking three years of high school and two years of junior college to nurture talent in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and cybersecurity fields.

"Gyeonggi AI School" is the name of the P-TECH program applied in Gyeonggi Province. IBM operates P-TECH programs worldwide in collaboration with governments, companies, and schools. Korea became the sixth country in the world to introduce the P-TECH program, following the United States, Morocco, Australia, Taiwan, and Singapore.

After a preparation phase this year, the Gyeonggi AI School will launch a cooperative system among companies, high schools, and universities starting next year. Two programs will be operated by cooperative groups consisting of Hangul and Computer - Suwon Information Science High School - Ansan University, and Raon People - Pyeongchon Business High School - Suwon Science College, respectively.

Participants in the Gyeonggi AI School will receive a high school diploma, an associate degree, paid internship opportunities at the respective companies, and preferential benefits such as exemption from document screening when seeking employment after graduation.

For example, participants from Suwon Information Science High School's "Gyeonggi AI School" will receive AI industry-academia cooperative education for three years, then enter Ansan University without an entrance exam to receive an additional two years of education. After graduation, they will be offered paid internship opportunities at Hangul and Computer and benefits such as exemption from document screening when seeking employment.

Deputy Governor Lee Yong-cheol said, "I believe that building infrastructure to acquire new technologies early is one of the government's roles," and promised, "We will provide necessary support at the Gyeonggi Province level and do our best not to neglect our responsibilities."

Superintendent Lee Jae-jung of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education said, "Above all, I am grateful that this provides our children with hope for the future and an opportunity to pursue their careers with conviction," and added, "We have formed a special committee to study how to reform the vocational education system and believe that programs linking schools, universities, and companies should be created."

Won Sung-sik, President of Korea IBM, emphasized, "Through today's agreement ceremony, I expect that many students at more schools will grow into new-collar talents," and said, "In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there is a significant shortage of digital talent in the industrial field, and I believe such programs will greatly help in supplying technical personnel. We will continue to cooperate with related organizations to contribute to nurturing technical talent."

According to the agreement, Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education will join forces to provide administrative support necessary for operating P-TECH schools, discover companies and schools to expand P-TECH, and explore various innovative vocational education models.

Korea IBM will provide the IBM Workplace Learning Curriculum tailored to the Korean educational environment and support curriculum development and teacher training.

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