2 Historical Overview and Recent Trends in Secondary Vocational Education

❙Young-bum Park, Myung Hee Jang, Hea Jun Yoon, and Dong Sun Choi

Part Ⅰ. Introduction

institutional framework for the establishment of modern vocational education.

However, vocational education failed to keep up with the changes of the times and served only as a tool for political and economical purposes. Furthermore, the main direction and the content of vocational education policy were influenced by foreign powers. In the process of the development of secondary vocational education, it was not until the 1960s that the government initiated a vocational education policy (Choi, 2003). This chapter provides the issues and trends on the vocational education policies of the current government, exploring major changes in policies on secondary vocational education after the liberation of Korea from Japanese rule.

1950

After liberation from Japanese rule, the colonial economy and its industrial structure, which were maintained under Japanese rule, found its vulnerability. The overall shrinking production activity prompted many factories to remain idle due to financial difficulties and irrational management. Thus, it led to a declining number of businesses and a reduced demand for manpower, resulting in a sluggish vocational education program (Choi, 2003). In the 1950s, the government set a basic policy for prompting vocational education to cultivate skills and the attitude necessary for the real world and implemented a policy for the expansion of vocational high schools (Jang, 2013).

However, a shortage of financial resources for vocational education led to poor training equipment and facilities, therefore producing ineffective results and having no distinct characteristics compared with general high school. During the United States Army Military Government in Korea, in the name of equal educational opportunity for all Korean citizens, Korea witnessed a remarkable change from the dual-track system that existed under Japanese rule to a single-track one. However, vocational education remained stagnant.

After the Korean War, along with economic aid from the United States, educational assistance was provided by the United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency (UNKRA)

and the International Cooperation Administration under the U.S. State Department in the early 1950s. The educational assistance program included intensive distribution for investment in secondary vocational education facilities. After the war, there was a public consensus that for the reconstruction of the nation and the establishment of an industrial foundation, it was important to train manpower through vocational education. Accordingly, the government promoted the recovery of vocational education schools and the expansion of facilities for practical training (Lee, 2004).

Under the circumstances, the Korean government considered introducing the U.S.

school system to improve its secondary school education. In particular, in the 1950s, the introduction of the comprehensive public high school was noticeable in terms of a change in vocational education at the secondary level. To meet the diverse demands and different personalities of those who wished to go on to the upper school and enter the labor market, the comprehensive public high school was designed to cover an academic course and a vocational program in one high school. In 1956, Pyeongtaek High School was designated as part of a pilot project to seek the possibilities for a comprehensive public high school. Besides courses for advancement to tertiary education institutions, the comprehensive high school in Pyeongtaek provided various courses, including agriculture, industrial and commercial courses, and allowed students to select the courses they wanted on a credit basis (Lee et al., 1998). In the 1960s, the comprehensive public high school continued to expand, playing a pivotal role in vocational education. However, a deep-rooted respect for academic education and a disregard for vocational education produced slight results, therefore prompting a considerable number of schools to change from a comprehensive high school again to an academic high school (Choi, 2003).

In the meantime, the Five-Year Plan on Vocational Technical Education, which was implemented from 1958, laid the foundation for the development of secondary vocational education in Korea (Lee et al., 1998). The plan included the expansion of manpower and facilities for vocational schools, the consolidation of education for improving the quality of teachers in vocational school, and the promotion of raising the awareness of disrespect for technical education. The enforcement of the plan was

Part Ⅰ. Introduction

driven by an ever-changing industrial structure, which took a large share of the manufacturing industry, as well as a rising demand for technical manpower in the late 1950s. The purpose of the five-year plan was to train skilled laborers that were capable of working in the workplace, but the plan was not properly implemented due to a lack of national financial assistance (Choi, 2003; Lee, 2004).

1960

~1970

Since the 1960s, Korea has marked a considerable change in vocational education.

In this period, secondary education policy was determined by the promotion of a plan for economic development, the supply of industrial workers arising from changes in industrial structure, and the political necessity of the government. The First Five-Year Plan for Economic Development, implemented from 1962, promoted the transition to a light-industry-centered industrial structure. At the time in Korea, where low-wage workers with good-quality skills were retained, the government promoted a labor- intensive industry to absorb the agricultural excess population, paving the way for tangible economic development (Lee et al., 1998). However, since labor-intensive industry required more low-wage unskilled workers than skilled ones, there was low demand for technicians with the level of a high school diploma equivalent to high- quality workers at the time. Accordingly, during this period, short-term vocational education was done for the idle-labor force and people with a low level of education in rural areas in an attempt to foster skilled workers (Choi, 2003; Jang, 2013).

However, by the late 1960s, the basis for the heavy chemical industry, including machines, steel, shipbuilding, automobiles, electronics and chemistry took shape. By 1970, there was a growing need for a skilled labor force. Unlike the age of labor- intensive light industry, which relied on women workers with a low level of education, the demand for a skilled labor force explosively increased as the heavy chemical industry expanded in earnest.

By the 1970s, to cultivate the skilled labor force necessary for the heavy chemical

industry, the government placed an emphasis on vocational high schools, particularly on technical high schools, therefore making intensive investments. Starting from 1974, a specialized project for fostering technical high schools in key fields was promoted according to regional conditions and the characteristics of schools by focusing on the fields of machines, electronics and chemistry. Furthermore, in 1974, the government enacted and promulgated the National Technical Qualifications Act in an effort to come up with a system in which industrial labor, which reaches a certain level of skills and competence and is expected to work in the industrial world, obtains qualifications from the government. Therefore, under the qualification system, secondary vocational education also required prospective graduates to cultivate skills and to carry out mandatory qualification (Jang, 2013; Lee, 2004).

From the 1960s to the 1970s, the government made intensive investments to quantitatively increase the number of both students and vocational high schools. As secondary vocational education played a role in nurturing and supplying good industrial manpower in a stable manner under the economic development plan, great strides were made in the vocational education system compared with the previous period (Lee et al., 1998).

1980

~1990

In the 1980s, as the leading industries in industrialization made the transition from the heavy chemical industry to a technology-intensive one, there was a need for education in an attempt to cultivate manpower with the skills for technology-intensive industry, rather than simple skilled workers for labor-intensive industry. Accordingly, an emphasis was put on the cultivation of high-quality human labor, including the scientific and engineering personnel necessary to ensure national competitiveness. In addition, in the 1980s, as a policy for the expansion of higher education opportunities was promoted under the banner of educational equality, the assistance and investment in the policy for vocational high schools declined sharply, producing an educational

Part Ⅰ. Introduction

policy that focused on general high schools. In the process of the transition to technology-intensive industry, there was also a reduction in the project for specialized technical high schools. With the collapse of skilled labor training, secondary vocational education of its own did not function properly.

Nonetheless, in the 1990s, the government implemented a policy to expand the number of vocational high schools, including technical high schools. This was driven by a lack of production workers in the manufacturing sector and the avoidance of manufacturing that surfaced in the late 1980s. With the implementation of such a policy, the number of vocational education and students increased annually. In 1994, the “2+1 system” was adopted in technical high schools. With the aim of ensuring the internal stability of technical high schools, the system reflected a remarkable reform of the education course to develop performance that met the demands of the workplace by students who learned at school for two years and practiced at companies for the next one year. In the process, many problems occurred: field training was virtually no more than early employment; it was simple, repetitive work, rather than the acquisition of major-related skills; and it was simply a low-wage work experience that consumed a lot of time (Choi, 2003). At that time, although labor market conditions in Korea were not mature enough to adopt the “2+1 system,” it was meaningful that the adoption paved the way for building industry-academic cooperation in terms of secondary vocational education.

Before the mid-1990s, secondary vocational education played a role in fostering and supplying industrial manpower for economic growth under intensive governmental assistance from the perspective of national development. After the mid-1990s, with the advent of globalization and an information-oriented society, it shifted towards an emphasis on the development of human capital for a future knowledge-based society in light of lifelong education. An educational reform announced on May 31, 1995 contained the overall restructuring across the education sector in Korea. The reform was aimed at establishing consumer-oriented lifelong vocational education for an open learning society in terms of vocational education. In other words, it was intended to establish vocational education as “a lifelong education to which all people can be

entitled.” The reform of vocational education contained cooperative measures to allow vocational high school graduates to study while working after finishing high school, and to seek various methods to help academics and industry cooperate with each other. Under the reform, although the purpose of vocational education was to shift from the level of high school to that of university, it also served as an incentive to mitigate students’ avoidance of vocational high schools (Choi, 2003).

2000

After 1999, led by the Kim Dae-jung government (1998~2002), the Roh Moo-hyun government (2003~2007), and the Lee Myung-bak government (2008~2012), Korea witnessed various polices for improving the competiveness of vocational education at the secondary level. In the “pragmatic government,” the main agenda of vocational education policy was “Employment first-Advancement to university later.” The government newly introduced Meister high schools to reorganize vocational high school education system and to foster the manpower necessary for the industrial society. This clearly showed that it was meaningful to have such policies (Jang et al., 2012).

Table 2-1 ❙ Major changes in vocational high school education policy after 1998

Kim Dae-jung government (1998~2002)

Policy direction

- Establish vocational education system to meet the demands of knowledge- based society and lifelong learning society.

Policy contents

- Shift system and improve policy support to allow students to work at the same time as advancing to university according to the departure of vocational high school education from an educational dead-end.

Roh Moo-hyun government (2003~2007)

Policy direction

- Establish an open vocational education system and make education to both work and learn during one’s life.

Policy contents

- Innovate the vocational education system.

- Ensure the internal stability of vocational education and strengthen career guidance and vocational guidance.

- Establish a possible career from employment after graduation to the acquisition of college degrees.

- Expand opportunities for the development of competency through the connection of learning-work.

Part Ⅰ. Introduction

Lee Myung-bak government (2008~2012)

Policy direction

- Reorganize vocational high schools as specialized vocational education institutes by field and establish the ‘Employment First, Advancement to University Later’ system.

Policy contents

- Reorganize the vocational high school education system.

- Support the employment of vocational high school graduates and their educational expenses.

- Strengthen field training-centered vocational education and create a situation where graduates can work and learn at the same time.

- Establish an environment where high school graduates tend to find employment.

Source: Jang et al. (2012, p.12)

In the 2000s, Korea made efforts to seek a Korean-style vocational education model in a new economic and social environment. As a result, vocational high school education experienced several important procedures, as follows.

First, the Korean government made efforts to diversify the operating system of vocational education at the high school level. In Korea, secondary vocational education institutes were a part of school education, so metropolitan and provincial offices of education played a leading role in establishing schools, reorganizing and operating education courses, placing teachers and supporting school finances. Although schools put an educational autonomy system in place and metropolitan and provincial offices of education were required to take the lead in vocational education, the central government (Ministry of Education) played a pivotal role in establishing the policy directions of the overall secondary vocational education, preparing related finances and organizing infrastructure. In other words, under the basic plan made by the central government, metropolitan and provincial offices of education come up with a detailed plan for operation, and each school implements the detailed plan. This is the basic system in which Korea’s secondary vocational education institutes operate.

However, given that secondary vocational education institutes were responsible for meeting industrial demands in a sensitive manner, the central government, which is in charge of the field of special industry, introduced a supporting operation system for secondary vocational education institutes. There are typical examples: the Small and Medium Business Administration provides secondary vocational education institutes

with a diverse support system to help supply excellent manpower to small and medium-sized businesses, and the Ministry of National Defense operates a program in which some specialized high schools are designated to foster military technicians. In 2005, a reform plan presented those types of vocational high school education systems (government ministries-affiliated specialized high schools). In 2008, eight government departments started to support 106 schools. In 2013, the number of schools supported was a whopping 201 schools. Such trends are expected to increase in the future.

Second, along with diversifying the vocational education system at the high school level, the government changed some general high schools to vocational education institutes to promote a policy reducing the scale of secondary vocational education.

Such a policy was introduced as in the 2000s, and many secondary vocational education institutes failed to recruit new students. Under the policy, vocational education institutes with no competitive edge were shifted to general high schools (more specifically, they were required to operate a general education course) and vocational education teachers were either placed at other schools or were responsible for teaching other subjects through competence training.

Third, the government started to emphasize vocational key competencies in the secondary vocational education course. Vocational key competencies are defined as a common competency required to perform tasks regardless of the type of job or position.

In the 2000s, the government put more emphasis on vocational key competencies as a necessary factor in the secondary vocational education program. In the early 2000s, there was a discussion on vocational key competencies as the policy agenda. Then the competencies evolved into a model for improving the teaching-learning method of general subjects, including Korean, mathematics and science. In recent years, subjects that reflect vocational key competencies are created in the national education course.

Fourth, the government reorganized the “field training” of students in secondary vocational education institutes. In Korea, under the laws and regulations, students who participate in vocational education are entitled to an opportunity to experience field training in the workplace for a certain period. Accordingly, vocational high schools provided students with an opportunity to work in the workplace about six

Part Ⅰ. Introduction

months during their second semester in the third year. However, with an immature labor market and poor working conditions, field training was misused for the exploitation of labor, rather than for educational purposes. Therefore, the recruiting method in the workplace was under rigorous control, and at the same time, various employment training programs were prepared. However, such changes were attributable to a reduction in the employment rates of secondary vocational education institutes, so in recent years, they came to return to the previous system.

Fifth, in the mid-2000s the issue of work-to-school came to the fore again, coupled with school-to-work. Because many secondary vocational education graduates chose to advance to higher education in the mid-2000s, school-to-work had no substantial function. However, some education institutes embraced the concept of work-to-school transition when they found that students entered the labor market to create a career path through work-to-school. This was instrumental in creating the Employment first-Advancement to university later policy. Starting the 2000s, the government has made efforts to find a new identity for secondary vocational education. Despite such efforts, many students with secondary vocational education attainment tended to advance to higher education institutes, therefore raising an issue regarding the identity of secondary vocational education. In addition to the issue, due to a higher college/

university entrance rate, industrial manpower in the workplace was in short supply.

Accordingly, small and medium-sized businesses faced a manpower supply problem in the workplace. Against the backdrop of such problems, starting in 2010, the Korean government reorganized secondary vocational education institutes into specialized vocational education institutes by field. With the Employment first-Advancement to university later policy being the top priority, it put more emphasis on entry into the labor market directly after secondary vocational education institutes.

Dalam dokumen The Present of Secondary Vocational Education in Korea (Halaman 37-47)