Busan City Launches Full-Scale 'Busan Waterloo-Style Co-op Program'

Implementation of Specialized and Field-Oriented Talent Development Begins in Earnest This Year

From Theory-Centered Education to Theory and Practical Operation, Encouraging Curriculum Reform

Busan City will officially launch the ‘Busan Waterloo-type Co-op Program,’ a program designed to nurture and supply talent with high adaptability to new technologies and corporate workplaces.

The Co-operative Education (Co-op) program refers to a program that alternates between theoretical coursework semesters and field training semesters to acquire practical skills and academic knowledge.

This project is designed by adapting the corporate field-based program implemented at the University of Waterloo in Canada to the circumstances of universities in the Busan area. It is promoted to cultivate talent that combines expertise and field experience by enabling companies and universities to respond swiftly to the demands of the industry and learners.

Before the full-scale implementation of the Busan Waterloo-type Co-op project this year, the city conducted a pilot project last year to verify its effectiveness.

According to a survey by the Korea Employment Information Service, more than 40% of the workforce hired by companies prefer talent proficient in practical work. The city expects that operating this program will meet the demand for talent equipped with both job-related expertise and field experience.

Participation Process of One Student in the Waterloo-type Co-op Program (Example).

The biggest feature of the Busan Waterloo-type Co-op program is selecting students from their third year of university and operating a mid- to long-term bachelor's course that combines theory and practice in the sequence of theory (3rd year, 1st semester) → practice (3rd year, 2nd semester) → theory (4th year, 1st semester) → practice (4th year, 2nd semester). This approach cultivates practical talents with field experience up to the level required by the industry and also induces reform and innovation of the existing theory-centered university curriculum.

This year, three universities will be selected through a public competition to operate the project, and 20 students majoring in regional strategic industries or new growth fields will participate from each selected university, totaling 60 students participating in the project.

Busan City and the Economic Promotion Agency, the entrusted organization for the project, plan to discover companies so that the selected students can engage in internships relevant to their majors and support matching the students with these companies.

Details on the application dates, methods, contents, and selection criteria can be found on the Busan Startup Portal.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun said, “The full-scale implementation of the Busan Waterloo-type Co-op program is a good model and a strong motivation for the trend of industry-university cooperation spreading from Busan to the whole country. We will further strengthen cooperation between universities and industries and expand the operation of the Busan-type Co-op program.”

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