Busan Vocational High Schools Operate the Nation's Largest 'Course Assessment-Based Qualification Curriculum'

Busan Metropolitan Office of Education has been operating the ‘Course Evaluation Type Qualification Curriculum’ to enhance the quality of vocational high school education and improve students’ practical field skills, and the operation rate of this curriculum has been found to be the highest nationwide.

Currently, the methods to obtain national technical qualifications are divided into ‘Examination Type’ and ‘Course Evaluation Type.’ The Examination Type allows qualification acquisition if the written and practical scores are 60 or above, but students can only obtain a technician-level qualification in this case.

The Course Evaluation Type requires schools to organize the qualification acquisition process within the curriculum, and students must score 80 or above in internal and external evaluations to obtain the certificate.

In this case, students can acquire an industrial engineer qualification, and since the qualification process is more demanding and the exam difficulty is higher, the capabilities and significant attention of teachers and schools are necessary.

Additionally, companies show high satisfaction with students who have obtained qualifications through the Course Evaluation Type and have been employed. It is known that the retraining period after employment is significantly shorter for those who acquired qualifications through this method compared to those with Examination Type qualifications.

Busan Office of Education.

Busan vocational high schools have been introducing and operating the Course Evaluation Type since 2016, starting with Busan Automobile High School, and currently 25 vocational high schools, accounting for 70%, are implementing it. They operate 21 technician-level courses and 23 industrial engineer-level courses to support students in obtaining qualifications.

The introduction rate of the Course Evaluation Type qualification curriculum by the Busan Office of Education is 70%, which is significantly higher than the national average of 24%.

The Office of Education plans to expand the schools adopting the Course Evaluation Type to all vocational high schools by 2027. Through this, they aim to solidify the operation of vocational high school curricula, strengthen students’ practical field skills, and improve employment rates and regional settlement rates.

To boost the pride of schools operating the Course Evaluation Type, Busan Office of Education will hold a plaque awarding ceremony at 11:30 a.m. on the 10th at the Avani Central Busan Hotel for the 25 schools operating the Course Evaluation Type qualification curriculum.

About 100 people, including principals, vice principals, responsible teachers of vocational high schools, and officials from the Korea Industrial Human Resources Corporation, will attend the event.

Ha Yun-su, Superintendent of Busan Metropolitan Office of Education, said, “Our office will continuously expand the schools operating the Course Evaluation Type qualification curriculum to enhance the competitiveness of Busan vocational high schools. Moving forward, we will cultivate skilled personnel to the extent that vocational high school students will not require retraining upon employment in companies.”

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