Ministry of SMEs and Startups Selects 5 New Semiconductor SME Contract Departments and Technical Cadet Programs

Curriculum Operation Expenses, Student Tuition Fees, Employment Connection Support

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Minjae] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 10th that it has newly selected a total of five lead universities, including three 'SME Contract Departments' and two 'Technical Cadet Programs,' to train personnel for small and medium-sized enterprises in the semiconductor sector.

The SME Contract Department is a talent development program based on a work-first-then-study approach, where universities establish degree programs and support SME employees (or prospective hires) in obtaining degrees (from associate to doctoral degrees, each course lasting two years), nurturing them as core personnel for companies.

Through the Technical Cadet Program, a linked four-year education is provided?two years at vocational high schools and two years at junior colleges?to systematically train technical personnel required in SME workplaces. The lead universities for the SME Contract Departments are Korea Polytechnic University, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, and Baehwa Women’s University. The lead universities for the Technical Cadet Programs are Yeungjin College and Dong-Eui Institute of Technology.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups supports the SME Contract Department lead universities with operational costs (approximately 70 million KRW annually) and provides partial tuition support (85?100%) to students. For the Technical Cadet Program lead universities, about 320 million KRW per year is provided for educational expenses, and students receive support including dedicated theoretical and technical education for cadets, acquisition of industrial engineer certifications, preferential recommendation for industrial technical personnel, and employment linkage with SMEs.

The selected SME Contract Department lead universities will operate educational programs with support from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups for the next three years, and the Technical Cadet Program lead universities for the next four years, cultivating specialized personnel in the semiconductor field. Each lead university will prepare by designing educational programs, building educational infrastructure, and recruiting students, aiming to open and operate courses starting March next year.

Students, SMEs, and SME employees (or prospective hires) wishing to participate in the SME Contract Departments and Technical Cadet Programs can apply according to the recruitment guidelines of each lead university.

Minister Lee Young of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups stated, “The core to leading the semiconductor super-gap is specialized personnel,” and added, “We plan to continuously expand SME personnel training programs such as SME Contract Departments and Technical Cadet Programs to nurture specialized personnel in the semiconductor sector.”

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