Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Recruiting Specialized High Schools for Customized Workforce Training for SMEs
by Kim Chulhyun
Published 26 Jan.2025 12:00(KST)
277 Billion Won to Support 180 Specialized High Schools in 2025
Field-Oriented, Industry-Linked Vocational Education to Foster Talent for SMEs
Expansion of Region- and Industry-Specific Curricula, Including AI and Smart Manufacturing
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 26th that it plans to select and support 180 specialized high schools to foster excellent talent and connect them to employment in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through field-oriented, customized vocational education linked to industry demand.
Since 2008, the Ministry has been operating the 'SME Specialized High School Talent Development' project, and in 2024, it trained 5,368 SME-tailored personnel through 173 employment (industry-academia) customized classes.
Gyeongbuk Mechanical and Metal High School, which participated in the 2024 SME Specialized High School Talent Development project, achieved excellent results with 86.4% of participating students employed by local SMEs through smart factory and region-specific customized class curricula.
This year, to respond to the decline in the school-age population and changes in industrial structure, region- and industry-specific customized specialized education has been strengthened. Region-specific specialized education is conducted by designating region-specialized schools with a two-track system: one linked to regional core industries and the other linked to work-study dual systems, expanding from 5 schools to 10 schools. Additionally, to expand curricula in advanced promising fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) and smart manufacturing, the number of new technology-focused support schools will be increased from 20 to 25.
Participating schools this year will be finalized through the 2024 continuous support evaluation and the 2025 new participant recruitment. Specialized high schools wishing to participate newly can apply through the SME Workforce Support Integrated Management System website by the 14th of next month.
Kim Woo-jung, Director of Regional Enterprise Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “We will continue to support specialized high schools so that they can be absorbed into excellent local SMEs through field-oriented customized education, and strengthen employment support such as discovering quality jobs in collaboration with local governments, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor.”
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