Foreword



Technical and vocational education has always been an important component of UNESCO's consecutive Medium Term Plans. The basic objective of this programme is to support the efforts of Member States to link education systems more closely to the world of work and to promote the expansion and improvement of technical and vocational education in the light of changing employment needs.

The Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education (CPSC) also dedicates itself primarily to enhancing the growth and development of the technician education systems in its member countries which are located in the Asia and Pacific region. Its programmes, projects and activities are geared to provide the needed impetus for the professional development of senior level personnel involved in technician education development efforts.

UNESCO has launched an International Project on Technical and Vocational Education (UNEVOC) as of 1992 in co-operation with the Government of Germany, ILO, FAO, UNDP and NGOs interested in the reform of technical and vocational education. This project focuses on exchanging information, research and experiences on policy and programme issues in technical and vocational education through a network of co-operating institutions.

In a spirit of co-operation between UNESCO and CPSC, under UNEVOC, an attempt is being made to compile and publish studies on the development of technical and vocational education in Member States in the form of TVE profiles of 21 countries. It is hoped that this series will serve as a handy reference information on TVE systems, staff development, technical co-operation and information networking. These studies have been possible because of the full co-operation to UNESCO PROAP and CPSC by all concerned in the Member States.

The opinions expressed in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of UNESCO and CPSC in this regard. This profile on the Republic of Korea was prepared by Prof. Young-Hwi Lee, Seconded Faculty Member to CPSC by the Government of Republic of Korea.

C.K. Basu 　　　Director, CPSC

Victor Ordonez　UNESCO PROAP Director,

Ethnically, Koreans belong to the Mongolian race and they are a homogeneous race speaking one language with their own culture and customs which differ from those of their nearest neighbours, China and Japan. They also have their own unique Korean phonetic alphabet, the Han-Gul, which is regarded as one of the most original and yet the most scientific of phonetic writing systems.

The total area of the Korean peninsula is approximately 220,000 km2 (85,000 sq miles), which is a little smaller than Great Britain. The peninsula is divided into the Republic of Korea in the South and North Korea in the north by the demilitarized zone at roughly 38° parallel Latitude north of equator. Republic of Korea covers 45 per cent of the Korean peninsula (99,000 km2) in size, a little more than twice the size of Switzerland and its population is about 43 million with an annual population growth rate of 0.92 per cent as of July 1991.

Approximately 70 per cent of the peninsula is mountainous, particularly in the north and along the east coast of the peninsula.

Administratively, the Republic of Korea consists of nine provinces and one special Metropolitan District of Seoul: there are five metropolitan cities, 67 cities and 137 counties in the nine provinces.

Until the first half of the 20th century, Korea had remained an agrarian society poorly endowed with natural resources. In the absence of natural endowment, Korea launched a series of ambitious five-year socio-economic development programmes beginning in 1962.

In addition, the government initiated the "Saemaul (New Village) Movement in 1970 to modernize rural areas through the inculcation and internalization of the spirit of "diligence, self-help and co-operation". Their successful implementation of the successive socio-economic development programmes has placed Korea among the leaders of the newly emerging industrialized countries. As of 1992, the per capita GNP of Korea was $6,749 with a total GNP of $294.5 billion.

The rapid economic development "has brought about far reaching social changes such as the breakdown of class barriers and increase of demographic mobility. The urbanization of the population has been pronounced, the occupational diversity has been drastically increased, and there has been a considerable rise in the general standard of living and education.

Korea is aiming at becoming a highly technological industrial society as well as a sound welfare society by the year 2000 by putting continued emphasis on the nurturing of its people's potentialities, development of science and technology and enhancement of industrial competitive edge in the pursuit of internationalization of its economy and opening the country to foreign dealings.

1.2 Introduction to Education in Korea

A. Educational System

1. An Overview

The Korean Education Law promulgated in 1949 provides for a 6-3-3-4 school system; 6 years for primary school, 3 years for junior high school, another 3 years for high school and four years of college or university.

Junior college education which can be taken after senior high school offers 2-3 years of education. See Figure-1 for details of Korean Education System.

The academic year consists of two semesters; the first semester begins on 1 March and ends on 31 August, while the second semester starts on 1 September and ends at the end of February the next year. Refer to Table 1 for the details on number of schools, student enrolment and number of teachers for various levels of schools and higher educational institutions.

In the year 1992, there were a total of 11,501,027 students attending 19,693 schools and colleges.

2. Pre to Secondary Education

a) Pre-school education

Pre-school education is provided by kindergartens for children aged 4-5. At present, more than 40 per cent of eligible children are enrolled in kindergartens.

The kindergarten education aims at providing an appropriate environment for the social and verbal ability development as well as cognitive, affective and psychomotor ability of the children enrolled. There were 8,526 kindergartens with the enrolment of 263,562 throughout the country in 1992.

b) Primary education

The 6 years of primary school education are compulsory and free for children from 6-12 years of age. Its goal is to provide basic skills and general education essential for understanding Korean culture and civic life in modern society. Nearly 100 per cent of those eligible attend primary schools. There were 4,561,078 pupils enrolled in 6,122 schools in 1992 throughout the country.

c) Junior high school or lower secondary education

Junior high school education is offered for students aged 12-15 and it is three years in length. All applicants from elementary schools are accepted and allocated by lottery to schools within their residential districts. 99.8 per cent of all primary school graduates moved on to junior high schools in 1992. Junior high school education is free only in rural areas, and in the near future it is to become compulsory and free for all.

There were 2,539 Junior high schools providing 3 years of education for 2,336,206 students throughout the country in 1992-93.

d) High school or upper secondary education

High school education is for the students aged 15-18 and it is also three years in length. The three years of course of study is financed mainly by the tuition and fees paid by the students.

There were a total of 1,735 high schools throughout the country in 1992 and of the 1,735 high schools, 664 were vocational high schools. Among the 1,735 high schools, there are some special high schools which offer specialized courses in arts, foreign languages, physical education and science.

Some of the talented students may receive scholarships for their tuition and other expenses.

Regardless of the educational streams, academic, vocational or special, all senior high school students may sit for college or university entrance examinations as they wish.

Nationwide high school entrance examinations are administered by respective provincial or municipal boards of education to allocate or assign students to schools within the students' residential districts for those who have passed the nationwide high school examination.

In 1992, 95.4 per cent of junior high school graduates went on to high school.

Table 1. Current Status of Schools in Korea

Classification	SCHOOLS				Class or Departments	Students	Teachers
	Total	National	Public	Private
Grand Total	19,693 (1.347)	170 (1)	13,478 (1,331)	6,045 (15)	234,371	11,501,027	396,034
Kindergarten	8,526	1	4,593	3,932	15,576	263,562	21,117
Elementary School	6,122 (1,254)	17	6,029 (1,254)	76	112,811	4,561,078	137,819
Junior High School	2,539 (44)	9	1,827 (44)	703	48,046	2,336,206	93,439
Academic High School	1,071	11	470	590	28,720	1,416,004	58,178
Vocational High School	664	3	373	288	14,622	707,617	37,030
Special School	103	3	30	70	1,896	20,690	2.992
Civic School	1	-	-	1	3	150	4
Civic High School	10	-	1	9	28	480	66
Trade School	1	-	-	1	1	22	2
Trade High School	26		-	26	439	21,377	583
Miscellaneous School (Junior HS Level)	9	1	0	8	98	5,296	179
Miscellaneous (HS Level)	28	2	5	21	556	28,332	896
Air and Correspondence HS	50	-	50	-	568	28,578	-
Junior Colleges	126	13	-	113	1,365	408,398	10,119
Teacher's Colleges	11	11	-	-	350	16,019	693
Colleges and Universities	115 (16)	23 (1)	1	91 (15)	4,140	1,052,140	35,175
Air and Correspondence Univ.	1	1	-	-	14	163,433	142
Open Universities	8	5	-	3	163	57,381	993
Graduate Schools	316	66	4	246	3,217	91,304	-
Open Graduate Schools	5	3	-	2	23	379	-
Miscellaneous Schools (College Level)	20			20	113	22,449	410

*Note: The number of professors in graduate schools is included in that of colleges and universities. Source: Education in Korea, 1992-1993, Ministry of Education

Under the education law and related presidential and ministerial decrees, all higher educational institutions, whether national, public or private come under the direct or indirect supervision of Ministry of Education. The Education Ministry guides and controls such matters as student quotas by academic fields, teaching staff qualification etc. The institutes of higher education are divided into five categories: (a) Junior colleges, (b) Colleges and universities, (c) Open universities, (d) Air and correspondence university, (e) Teachers' colleges

a) Junior college education

As of 1993, there were 128 junior colleges, 8 national and 120 private. The total student enrolment was 344,970. Most of the junior colleges offer 2 years of vocational and technical education. The fisheries and maritime colleges offer 2 1/2 year programmes and the nursing 3 years.

Junior colleges select students based on the students' composite score of the National College Entrance Competency Test score and the weighted score of high school scholastic performance results of individual student.

b) College or University Education

As of 1992, there were 121 four year colleges and universities (24 national and 97 private) and the total student enrolment was 818,153. Colleges and universities provide programmes leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in various fields of study. A number of colleges and universities have programmes in medicine and dentistry and these programmes last six years for bachelor's degree. The colleges and universities have 337 affiliated graduate schools with a total student enrolment of 87,514 in 1992. The student selection method of colleges and universities is the same as the junior colleges. Other than the 121 colleges and universities, there are 11 primary school teacher training colleges (4 years) with a total student enrolment of 16,019.

4. Non-formal Education

Non-formal education includes semi-formal vocational education, vocational training and cultural education. Semi-formal education is practised at schools which are founded by non-formal educational foundations; trade-junior high schools and high schools, civic junior and senior high schools, night classes affiliated with industrial firms, air correspondence high schools, the college degree acquisition programmes through independent studies, Air and Correspondence University and open universities.

As of 1992, 24,000 students were enrolled at 50 air and correspondence high schools in 28 areas. The Air and Correspondence University enrolment was 163,433 in 1992. 50,416 students were enrolled at 8 open universities throughout the country. The open universities accept applicants with high school diploma or equivalent educational background. Those with one-year or more work experience at factories and graduates of vocational high schools are given priority in admission according to university regulation

College degrees can also be sought through independent studies. Those who have high school diploma can be conferred bachelor's degree when they have passed a series of state-governed qualifying examinations and the degree is treated as equal to a regular degree granted by colleges and universities.

B. Teacher Education and Training

Primary school teachers are trained at the 11 teacher's colleges which offer 4 years of teacher training programme throughout the country and at the Department of Primary Education of the Korea National University of Education.

Secondary school teachers are trained at colleges of education and at departments of education of various colleges and universities including Korea National University of Education.

Some colleges and universities also offer teaching certificate programmes in order to provide teaching job opportunities for the graduates. The graduate schools of education of various universities are also a source of teacher training.

To be employed as teachers upon completing teacher training courses and programmes at colleges and universities, all graduate applicants are required to take a public screening test governed by respective regional boards of education.

In-service training programmes for teachers are offered in four different categories:

a) qualification training to get credits for promotion (180 hours);
b) general training to broaden overall knowledge in educational theories and practices (60 hours or more);
c) orientation training for new recruits to make them acquainted with the profession;
d) refreshment training for the enhancement of teachers' performance.

Graduate school of education of major universities and the Korea National University of Education also offer Master's degree programmes in various fields of discipline for the upgrading of in-service teachers.

The Central Educational Research and Training Institute under the Ministry of Education provides refreshment training for teachers, educational specialists and administrators of different regions.

C. Educational Administration and Financing

1. Educational Administration

The administrative organizations responsible for education are the Ministry of Education at the national level, and Municipal or Provincial Boards of Education at the regional level.

The Ministry of Education assimilates and adjusts educational policy measures, compiles and authorizes textbooks, provides administrative and financial support to schools, guides district educational administrative bodies, and operates teacher education systems.

Headed by the Minister and Vice Minister, the Ministry has three branch offices and five bureaus: Planning and Management Office, Supervision and Textbook Compilation Office, University Education Office, Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau, Teacher Affairs Bureau, Science and Technology Education Bureau, Non-formal and International Education Bureau and Education Facilities Bureau.

The Science and Technology Education Bureau is responsible for the administration of vocational technical education at secondary and post-secondary level schools and colleges.

A board of education at municipal or provincial level is an autonomous regional body looking after the educational affairs of the pre-primary, primary and secondary schools.

A municipal or provincial board of education has a superintendency as an executive body headed by the Superintendent and an Education Committee as a legislative body that makes major decisions on education, science and art.

As of 1992, there are 15 municipal or provincial boards of education as well as 179 local education offices throughout the country.

As for educational advisory organizations, the Central Educational Council and the University Educational Council assist the Minister of Education, while the Commission on Educational Policy advises the president.

2. Educational Financing

The educational finance in Korea consists of the central government budget, the regional or local government budget and the financial resources of private schools. The larger portion of educational finance is dependent on governmental support and student tuition and contributions from school foundations and private sector are relatively marginal.

The major sources of national educational budget is internal revenue. In 1992, the educational budget was $10.3 Billion (to 8,206,300 million won) which was 22.7 per cent of the total government budget.

The budget comprises operational expenditures of the Ministry of Education, national universities, research institutes, and grants for local educational finance (57 per cent) to support elementary and secondary education of various provinces and regions.

The major sources of revenue for the provincial or regional educational budget is government grants.

On the other hand, the major sources of financing private education are students' tuition and enrolment fees. In 1990, the entrance and tuition fees accounted for approximately 70 per cent of the total revenue of private schools.

As of 1991, private schools accounted for 69.3 per cent of kindergartens, 28.6 per cent for primary schools, 61.7 per cent for high schools and 78.3 per cent for colleges, and universities or higher education in terms of student population.

Part II. TVET Systems, Programmes and Statistics

2.1 Overview of TVET Systems and Programme Structure

The vocational-technical education programmes under the formal education system are provided at upper secondary or high school (grade 10-12) and at post-secondary junior colleges. The high school level vocational-technical education programmes are 3 years and the post-secondary programmes are 2 years except fishery and maritime courses and nursing courses which last 2½ years and 3 years respectively.

There were 679 vocational-technical high schools with a total student enrolment of approximately 707,000 which is about one third of total high school enrolment.

In 1992, there were 128 junior colleges with a total student enrolment of about 350,000 which also constitutes a little bit more than one third of higher education student enrolment in 1992.

Upon successful completion of the high school and junior college, graduates are awarded the High School Diploma and the Junior College Diploma, respectively.

There are also about 6,500 small scale non-formal private vocational-technical institutes providing occupational skill training courses for about 974,000 people throughout the country in 1992. The courses usually last 1-3 months and they are registered with the regional board of education.

The vocational training or semi-formal vocational and technical training programmes which come under the public and private vocational training system administered by the Ministry of Labour usually last 3 to 12 months although there are some programmes that last 2-3 years. These vocational training programmes are provided for both employed and unemployed youths and adults outside the formal education system under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Labour. As of 1992, there were 80 public vocational training institutes or premises, 296 in-company training centers and 105 authorized private vocational training institutes throughout the country with a training capacity of about 27,000, 94,000 and 35,000, respectively. Of the 80 governmental vocational training institutes, 36 are managed by the Korea Manpower Agency which is a government funded semi-government organization under the umbrella of Ministry of Labour and they provide highly structured quality vocational training programmes for youths and adults who have junior high school and high school education. Most of the vocational training courses and programmes are geared to the acquisition of the National Technical Qualification.

Table 2. Status of TVET (1992)

Administrative Organization	TVET Institutions (Duration of Programme)	Target Population	No. of Schools/Institutions	Approximate Enrolment (capacity)
Ministry of Education and Regional Office of Education	Junior Colleges (2-3 years)	High School graduates	128	345,000 (350,000)
	Vocational-Technical High School (3 years)	Junior High School graduates	679	707,000 (760,000)
	Non-formal Vocational Institutes (1-3 months)	No restrictions	6,600	(974,000)
Ministry of Labour and Korea Manpower Agency	Public Vocational Training Institutes and Centres (6 months - 3 years)	Junior High School and High School graduates	80	29,000 (27,000)
	In-plant Training Centres (3-6 months)		296	50,000 (94,000)
	Authorized Private Vocational Training (3 months - 2 years)	No restrictions	105	25,000 (35,000)

Source: Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labour.

2.2 Technical-Vocational Education Programmes and Courses at Upper Secondary Schools or High Schools

The technical high schools or upper secondary vocational-technical high schools offer three years of vocational-technical education programmes in the area of technical, agricultural, fishery and maritime, home economics and business and commerce studies at grade 10-12 level for junior high school graduates. These upper secondary level vocational technical high schools are the major sources of skilled craft level industrial manpower in Korea.

There were 37 agricultural high schools, 126 technical high schools, 227 business and commerce high schools, 9 fishery-maritime high schools, 38 combined vocational high schools and 242 comprehensive high schools which provide vocational courses as well as academic courses. These combined vocational high schools which provide more than two vocational courses and comprehensive high schools are usually located in rural areas or small and medium sized cities and towns where there are a small number of eligible students to provide a variety of vocational-technical occupational training course choices.

In 1992, the total enrolment capacity and actual enrolment of the 679 vocational-technical high schools were 762,710 and 706,298 respectively. The actual enrolment for different vocational areas were: agricultural - 37,728, technical -220,639, fishery-maritime - 7,889, and business and commerce - 440,042. See Table 3 for details.

There are 53 different courses of students that can be chosen by students at technical high schools, 14 at agricultural high schools, 8 at maritime-fishery and 7 at business and commerce high schools.

The curriculum of vocational-technical high schools is composed of general subjects and vocational subjects. Students need to take between 204 and 216 units during the 3 years of study period or 6 semesters.

Of the 204-216 units students need to take, 104-154 units of general subjects and 88-122 units of vocational subjects. Of the 82-122 units allocated for vocational subjects, at least 50% of the units or 41-61 units should be allocated for practical sessions in the case of technical high schools.

Table 3. Enrolment Capacity and Actual Enrolment at Vocational High Schools

		10th Grade		11th Grade		12th Grade		Total
	No. of schools	Capacity	Enrolment	Capacity	Enrolment	Capacity	Enrolment	Capacity	Enrolment
									Male	Female	Total
Total Area	737	264,799	247,121	251,169	233,973	246,742	225,204	762,710 1100%)	334,701 (47.4%)	370,967 52.6%)	705,668 (100%)
Agriculture	96	16.314	11.384	17,296	12,423	20,909	13,921	54,519 (7.1%)	30.916 (83.3%)	6,182 (16.7%)	37,098 (5.3%)
Technical	198	86,587	84,832	75,204	72,382	68,724	63,425	230,515 (30.2%)	214,366 (97.2%)	6,273 (2.8%)	220,639 (31.3%)
Fishery-Maritime	14	3,447	2,310	3.660	2,725	3,748	2.854	10.855 (1.4%)	7,712 (97.8%)	177 (2.2%)	7,889 (1.1%)
Business and Commerce	429	158,451	148,595	155.009	146.443	153,361	145.004	466,821 (61.2%)	81,707 (18.6%)	358,335 (81.4%)	440.042 (62.4%)

* The actual number of vocational school is only 679. As the comprehensive high schools and vocational high schools that offer more than 2 different vocational courses have been counted as 2 or 3 vocational high schools, the total number of schools showed up as 737.

Source: 1992 Ministry of Education

One unit is one class-hour per week and it lasts for 17 weeks or one semester. There are essential subjects and elective subjects in vocational subjects.

Presently vocational-technical high school students may have one semester of on-the-job training out of six semesters and the on-the-job training is usually taken during the last semester of the 3rd year studies.

Currently, Korean government is planning to introduce a new format of upper secondary technical education system which consists of 2 years of school education and 1 year of structured on-the-job industrial training beginning 1994 and this so called 2 plus 1 system is to be fully introduced by 1998. The purpose of the reformation of the upper secondary school technical education is to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of technical education based on dual system or school-industry co-operation. It is expected that the new system is to bring qualitative and quantitative improvement of upper secondary technical education as well as cost optimization in skilled technical manpower training which is rather costly.

The eligibility at vocational-technical high schools by junior high school students is decided by an entrance examination administered by the provincial or municipal office of education at the end of 3rd year junior high school semester. Students' achievement during junior high school is also another important factor to be reckoned in determining the eligibility together with the entrance examination result.

One notable fact is that the vocational technical high school graduates may also seek further education or higher education at junior colleges, colleges and universities like the general or academic high school graduates as long as they are successful in the college entrance examination. Junior colleges may provide some special privileges for the vocational-technical high school graduates in selecting their students as there is an entrance quota of 20-50% reserved for vocational technical high school graduates.

2.3 Technical-Vocational Education Programmes and Courses at Post-Secondary Institutions or Junior Colleges

Junior colleges offer 2-3 years of vocational technical education programmes for upper secondary or high school graduates who have completed 12 years of education through primary, junior high school and senior high school.

There are 223 different courses of studies offered at junior colleges in agricultural, technical, nursing, public health, fishery and maritime, business and commerce, home economics, arts, athletics, social sciences and humanities occupational areas. The nursing courses usually last 3 years and the fishery-maritime courses take 2½ years to finish.

In 1993, there are 128 junior colleges with a total student enrolment of 344,970. The student entrance quota for the junior colleges for 1993 academic year which was set by the Ministry of Education was 174,490 (36%). Whereas the quota for colleges and universities and the quota for open university plus Air and Correspondence University were 224,190 (46.3%) and 85,620 (17.7%) respectively. This shows that the student quota for junior college was more than one third of the higher education student quota in 1993.

As it is seen in Table 1, 120 junior colleges out of the total 128 junior colleges were private, the remaining 8 being national, the post-secondary vocational-technical education in Korea is heavily dependent upon private educational institutions.

It can be noted that the number of junior colleges has been increased to 128 from 118 in 1991 and the student enrolment has also been increased to 344,970 from 277,890 in 1991.

The basic requirement for the entrance to junior college is to pass the standard college and university entrance examination upon graduation from high school. 20-50% of the freshmen quota is reserved for graduates of vocational-technical high schools who intend to major in the same field of study as they did at vocational-technical high schools,

Table 4. Number of Junior College Student by Courses (1992-1993)

			Study year	Enrolment Capacity
Courses				1st year	2nd year	3rd year	Total
	Technical			84,530	74,570	260	159,360
	Agricultural			1,800	3,040	-	4,840
	Fishery-Maritime			720	1,080	720	2,520
Science	Health			12,780	12,570	4,390	29,690
	Nursing			5,820	5,700	5,700	17,220
	Home Economics			13,560	12,800	-	26,360
	Sub-Total			119,210	109,760	11,070	239,990
Business Related				43,340	38,960	-	82,300
Arts				10,370	9,430	-	19,800
Athletics				1,560	1,320	-	2,880
Total				174,480	159,470	11,070	344,970

Source: Korean Council for Junior College Education

Junior college curriculum is composed of 20-30% of general subjects and 70-80% of vocational subjects. In the operation of the vocational subjects, at least 50% of the sessions must be allocated for practical works. Students need to obtain a minimum of 80 credits (120 for nursing and 100 for fishery-maritime courses) with 24 maximum obtainable credits per semester. Certain courses of studies require 1-3 month of on-the-job training for graduation.

2.4 Vocational Training Programmes

The public vocational training, in-company vocational training and some private organizations' vocational training are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Labour and they are operated outside the formal education system for out-of-school employed and unemployed youths and adults.

The public vocational training programmes can be divided into three different categories: the vocational training programmes organized and managed by the Korea Manpower Agency (KOMA), the vocational training programmes which are taken care of by some of the ministries of the government and the vocational training programmes which are run by local governments.

The in-plant or in-company vocational training programmes are conducted by the industrial enterprises that employ more than 150 employees which are obliged either to pay training cost shares or conduct training. As of 1992, there were, 3,417 companies that had this obligation under the vocational training law. Of the 3,417 companies only 286 companies were conducting training and the remaining companies were paying training cost shares or training levy imposed by the government instead of conducting training themselves.

As of 1992, there were 80 public vocational training institutes and centres (36 under KOMA, 37 by government ministries and 7 by local government); 286 in-company vocational training centres and 105 authorized private vocational training institutes.

The total training capacity of the public vocational training institutes at skilled and semi-skilled level training is 26,864 as of 1992, while the training capacity of in-company training centres and authorized private training institutes were 94,204 and 35,876 respectively in 1992. Currently, there are two master craftsmen training colleges under the Korea Manpower Agency which have a training capacity of 700 and 60 each.

Table 5. Status of Vocational Training (1992)

		No. of training establishment	No. of trade	Target (1992)	Approved capacity (1992)
Total		481	-	105,415	157,704
	Public Total	80	-	30,415	27,624
	KOMA	36	92	19,375	19,375
Public	Central
	Government	37	64	6,000	5,099
	Local Government	7	37	5,040	3,150
In-plant		286	117	50,000	94,204
Authorized private		105	64	25,000	35,876

Source: Ministry of Labour

As it is seen in Table 6, the vocational training programmes at the public vocational establishments under the Korea Manpower Agency last six months to three years and they are mostly initial job training programmes at three different levels of training; (1) Assistant or semi-skilled craft certificate level, (2) Grade 2 craft or skilled craft certificate level, (3) higher craft certificate or grade 1 certificate level.

The training programmes of the central government and local government authorities are offered with the training duration of 6 - 12 months and the levels of training are semi-skilled to skilled craft training.

The duration of most of the in-company training programmes are three to six months and the level of training programmes are usually at semi-skilled or assistant craft training standard.

All of the vocational training programmes emphasize the training and development of practical occupational skills with the allocation of 70% of training sessions for practical training.

Table 6. Status of Public Vocational Training Programmes of Korea Manpower Agency (1992) Vocational Training Institutes

		Total	Initial Training	Upgrading Training
Level	Total Duration	19,375	18,360	1,015
Master Craft Level	1 year	760	-	760
Grade - 1 Craft Level	3 years programme	1,440	1,440	-
	2 years programme	4,290	4,290	-
	1 year programme	255	-	255
Grade - 2 Craft Level	1 year programme	8,880	8,880	-
Assistant Craft Level	6 months programme	3,750	3,750	-

Table 7. Status of in-Company and Authorized Private Organization Vocational Training (1992)

Total			Initial Training				Upgrading	Retraining	Transfer training
		Sub-total	2 years programme	1 year programme	6 months programme	3 months programme
In-company	94,204	37,727	60	1,755	16,880	19,032	34,852	21,505	120
Authorized private	35,876	35,726	7,332	6,630	11,184	10,580	-	150	-

Source: Ministry of Labour

Other than the three year public vocational training programme which allows only junior high school graduates, majority of the trainees at vocational training institutes are upper secondary school and lower secondary school graduates although there is no restriction in taking vocational training courses in terms of age, sex, educational qualifications and employment status.

Most of the vocational training courses other than the courses at authorized private vocational training institutes are offered free of charge and in the case of trainees enrolled at in-company training centres and low income family members are paid a training allowance while they are training.

2.5 Non-Formal Vocational-Technical Education and Training Programmes conducted by Private Institutions


As of 1992, there were 6,561 non-formal private institutes registered with the provincial and municipal boards of education throughout the country. The total capacity of the 6,561 private institutes was about 974,000 and these institutions were offering occupational training courses in 24 occupational areas on fee charging basis. The courses offered by these private institutes are in the field of mechanical, metallurgical, electrical, electronics, telecommunications, shipbuilding, aerospace, civil, building construction, textile, mining, information processing, energy, land and housing development, marine, industrial applications, environmental control, broadcasting, nursing, health care, business and commercial services etc.

In view of the importance of the roles and functions of these non-formal private training institutions in national manpower training and development, the Korean government is very much in favour of nurturing the private training institutes by providing various incentive schemes and other supports in the coming years.

2.6 Women in Technical-Vocational Education and Training

As of 1990, the economically active female population in Korea was about 7.5 million and this constitutes about 40.5% of the total economically active population which is about 18.5 million.

The number of female students enrolled at vocational-technical high schools throughout the country accounted for approximately 433,000 (53.2%) out of a total number of 812,000 vocational-technical high school or upper secondary (grade 10 -12) vocational technical schools in 1992.

The statistics from the Ministry of Education show that male students constitute the majority majoring in technical, agricultural and fishery-maritime courses while female students are highly represented in business and commerce courses of studies at business and commerce high school. 80.4% or about 288,500 students at business and commerce high schools were female.

Table 8: Proportion of Vocational High School Enrolment by Sex

Schools/Courses	Total	Male	Female
Agricultural	31,853	35,886	5,789 (18.2 %)
Technical	200,920	188,760	4,942 (2.5%)
Business and Commerce		76,282	288,468 (80.4%)
Fishing and Maritime	7,482	9,164	97 (1.3%)
Vocational	27,024	6,511	14,576 (53.9%)
Comprehensive	186,451	66,851	118,587 (14.6%)
Total	812,482	383,454	432,459 (63.6%)

Source: Ministry of Labour

In the case of vocational training only 17,850 were female trainees out of a total of 93,503 trainees.

Table 9. Proportion of Female Trainees enrolled at Vocational Training Institutes

Types of Vocational Training	Total Trainees	Female Trainees
Public Vocational Training	25,950	2,088 (8.0%)
In-plant Vocational Training	43,304	10,510 (24.3%)
Authorized Vocational Training	24,249	5,255 (21.7%)
Total	93,503	17,853 (19.1%)

There are two girls' technical high schools and one women's vocational training institute as of 1993 and the number of female students and trainees taking vocational-technical education and training courses is expected to be increased gradually in the coming years. The Korean government is encouraging and promoting women's participation in vocational-technical education and training courses together with increasing women's roles in economic activities.

2.7 National Technical Qualification System

Korea introduced the National Technical Qualification Testing (NTQT) system and scheme in 1967. The aim of the NTQT scheme is to officially test and recognize the occupational technical knowledge and skill standards of individuals and thereby properly guide and direct the training and development of skilled technical manpower required by the business, industries and governmental organizations and at the same time to improve and enhance the socio-economic status of skilled technical people.

There are three major qualification categories or divisions in the NTQT system: Engineering Division, Skilled Craft Division and Service or Business and Commerce Division.

Within the engineering division there are three different levels of qualifications namely Engineer Grade 2, Engineer Grade 1 and Professional Engineer. In the case of craft division, there are four different levels of qualifications: assistant grade, skilled craft grade 2, skilled craft grade 1 and Master Craft grade. In the service sector division there are three levels of qualifications; Grade 3, Grade 2 and Grade 1.

The eligibility for each level of qualification tests for respective division is shown in Figure 4.

The qualification test for the professional engineer grade consists of written and interview tests, and the test for other levels of qualification in Engineering Division and Craft Division are written tests plus practical tests except the assistant craft grade which only requires a practical test. In the case of Service Division, bookkeeping, typing, stenography and calculation have written tests, while word processing and secretarial works are tested by both a written and a practical test.

The qualification tests for Engineering and Skilled Craft Divisions are organized and administered by the Korea Manpower Agency (KOMA) and the tests for Service Division are organized and administered by the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The National Technical Qualification System Review and Assessment Committee and the 25 professional sub-committees under the Review and Assessment Committee within the Ministry of Labour decide important issues and matters concerning the National Technical Qualification Testing Systems and its implementation.

In 1991 there were a total of 317,147 candidates for engineering division tests and only 38,158 (12%) succeeded in passing the test. In the skilled craft division 204,170 (21%) candidates passed the tests out of 984,083 candidates. In the case of service division 703,412 (29%) candidates were successful out of 2,375,521 candidates.

As of December 1992, there were a total of 612,622 qualified engineers who have passed the engineering division test, 2,594,723 qualified skilled crafts and 9,271,824 qualified services personnel throughout the country.

Figure 4. Divisional Qualification Level and Eligibility of the National Technical Qualification Testing System

Division	Level	No. of Testing Occupations	Eligibility
	Professional Engineer	96	· Engineer Grade 1+7 years of work experience (WE)
			· Engineering Grade 2+9 years of WE
Engineer			· College Degree + 9 years of WE
			· Junior College +11 years of WE