With the advent of a knowledge-based society, there is a growing perception that school education serves not only to simply convey knowledge, but also to cultivate competencies in creating and using knowledge. Although there are rapid changes in industrial structure and manpower, a vocational education system responsible for fostering skilled human capital seems to fail to respond to such changes. This is not limited only to the problem of vocational education institutes, but also to the poor operation of Korea’s vocational education to meet the demands of both industries and businesses.
According to an annual evaluation of national competitiveness for 60 countries by Switzerland’s International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Korea’s educational competitiveness ranking was 26th in 2014. The ranking changes in educational competitiveness by detailed indicator suggest that the percentage of the population that has attained higher education for persons aged 25 to 34 ranked second for five consecutive years. In contrast, college/university education that meets the needs of a competitive economy and management education that meets the needs of the business community ranked relatively lower. This implies that some sectors are required to improve educational competitiveness. In particular, there is a need to reflect on whether Korea’s educational system has helped to nurture talented human capital that meets the needs of the future economy and the business community.
Part Ⅰ. Introduction
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Table 1-9 ❙ Korea’s rankings IMD educational competitiveness (2009-2014)
(Unit: ranking)
Detailed indicator Year
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Secondary enrolment rate 6 8 6 8 10 14
Percentage of population that has attained at least
tertiary education for persons aged 25-34 4 2 2 2 2 2
An educational system that meets the needs of a
competitive economy 32 31 20 27 27 29
College/university education that meets the needs of
a competitive economy 51 46 39 42 41 53
Language skills that meet the needs of enterprises 34 39 31 32 28 30 Management education that meets the needs of the
business community 42 43 35 43 41 47
Overall educational competitiveness ranking 36 35 29 31 25 26
Overall national competitiveness ranking 27 23 22 22 22 31
Participating nations 57 58 59 59 60 60
Source: IMD (2009-2014)
There has been criticism that secondary vocational school, which plays a major role in fostering and supplying manpower that meet industrial demands, particularly its curriculum fails to respond sensitively to changes due to the transition to a knowledge- based society. More specifically, there are major limitations, as follows (Jang et al., 2014). First, there is a shortage of the authority to operate curriculum. Unlike general high school, it is necessary for secondary vocational school to develop its curriculum based on the characteristics by field of study, as well as by subjects. When a new subject is introduced, however, it is required to comply with the regulations of metropolitan and provincial offices of education. Accordingly, a curriculum reflecting changing industrial demands has restrictions on its operation. Second, reform of the field of study that classifies secondary vocational education courses is needed. In Korea’s secondary vocational curriculum, starting from the 1990’s, the field of study covered agriculture, commerce and industry. At present, it still includes agriculture and life industry, industry, commercial information, fishery․marine, and home economics. However, such classification is not associated with the current industrial and occupational classification system, so it fails to play a role in presenting the
direction to train manpower. Third, the current secondary vocational education forms 251 specialized subjects in relation to various vocational competencies. However, they solely focus on university professors or school teachers, and therefore have a limitation on developing the various vocational competencies at the secondary level that meet the needs of the industry community.
In this context, by departing from the cultivation of the low-skilled craftsman of the past, reorganizing the role of secondary vocational education institutes is needed to supply skilled junior engineers. In addition, to put in place a system in which people enter the labor market and then go on to college/university so they can manage both work and learning, it is simultaneously necessary to strengthen higher vocational education institutes.
To develop jobs fit for a knowledge-service society, the government in recent years has paid more attention to a policy focusing on the discovery of new and emerging occupations that were nonexistent before. According to research by Han et al. (2013), new and emerging occupations have the main characteristics of indistinct occupational boundaries and of convergence in the performance of one’s duties, rather than one technology. Therefore, future new and emerging occupations will require competencies that integrate various types of knowledge with the major field of study, rather than one technology.
Most of all, it is imperative for Korean society to train convergent talents with creative and comprehensive thinking and professional manpower who are capable of meeting the needs of the rapidly changing industrial society in secondary vocational school. In that regard, the development of a curriculum based on the National Competency Standards (NCS), as well as the establishment of the National Qualification Framework implemented by the current Park Geun-hye government will lay a meaningful foundation for creating a society where people focus more on competency and less on educational background, serving as an important indicator for young people who are poised to enter the labor market.1)
1) National Competency Standards (NCS) is a concept in which a country makes the knowledge, technology and attitude by industry and level that are required to successfully perform jobs in industrial settings, focusing on the transition to demand-centered vocational education, rather than a supply-centered one.
Part Ⅰ. Introduction
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