Ministry of Education Selects Gwangju, Changwon, Ulsan, Gimhae, and Gyeongbuk as 'Vocational Education Innovation Zones'

Vocational High Schools, Local Companies, and Universities Collaborate to Develop Innovation District Curriculum
Three-Year Project to Nurture Local High School Graduates... 1 Billion KRW Support for Metropolitan Areas, 500 Million KRW for Basic Units

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Ministry of Education has selected Gwangju, Changwon in Gyeongnam, Ulsan, Gimhae in Gyeongnam, and Gyeongsangbuk-do as 'Vocational Education Innovation Zones' this year to cultivate local high school graduate talent.

On the 24th, the Ministry of Education announced the results of the new selection of five zones for the 2022 Vocational Education Innovation Zone project and held a performance sharing meeting for the regions selected last year.

The Vocational Education Innovation Zone is a vocational education support system where vocational high schools, local companies, and universities participate to operate innovative zone curricula so that high school graduate talent who will lead local industrial development can settle in the region, based on cooperation between local governments and education offices.

After announcing the project at the end of last year, the Ministry of Education selected five regions through written and face-to-face evaluations of the applicant regions. The selected zones will carry out tasks to cultivate local high school graduate talent for three years from March to February 2025. They will perform tasks to establish a vocational education cooperation system and create growth paths for local talent, with 1 billion KRW supported for metropolitan-level zones and 500 million KRW for basic-level zones.

Gwangju will establish a Vocational Education Innovation Zone Support Center within the Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall and promote industry-academia-government linkage in the future transportation equipment and energy industry sectors. Changwon will operate industry-led education courses to cultivate practical talent in the field, leveraging its characteristic as a machinery industry cluster. Ulsan will utilize learning-centered field training to provide common job training for eco-friendly mobility companies at Ulsan College of Science and Technology and others for 6 weeks to third-year vocational high school students.

Gimhae plans to increase administrative and financial support for fostering specialized high schools based on the future car industrial complex and expand corporate recruitment. Gyeongbuk will operate job-linked vocational training courses centered on advanced new material parts processing industries and nurture technical talent by linking with existing youth support projects.

The Ministry of Education will conduct zone-specific consultations through advisory groups composed of industry experts and establish an information resource sharing system.

A performance sharing meeting will also be held at Hotel Intercity in Daejeon on the same day. Last year, Busan (intelligent manufacturing, global tourism, etc.), Daegu (intelligent factories), Incheon (aircraft repair and maintenance, bio), Cheonan in Chungnam (semiconductors, displays, etc.), and Sacheon, Jinju, and Goseong in Gyeongnam (aviation industry) were selected.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye said, "Vocational high school students are talents who can lead regional development by finding employment and settling in the region after graduation. I hope that a system for cultivating technical talent suited to local industries will be established through the efforts of metropolitan and provincial education offices and the active participation of local governments."

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