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First, Advancement to University Later.”
Moreover, the Park Geun-hye government proceeded with a policy for “Strengthening Education for Skilled Manpower Training,” therefore ensuring the continuity of the policy for promoting the employment of high school graduates and the Advancement to University Later policy implemented by the former government, which required the preconditions of the establishment of infrastructure and making of being education for training skilled workers solid. In this context, the current government announced promotion plans starting from 2014 that include the promotion of Meister high schools, the strengthening of the framework by continuously promoting the employment of high school graduates, and the expansion of opportunities for employed workers’
advancement to university later and career development.
The Current Status of the Meister High School and its Main
Figure 5-2 ❙ The current status of Meister high schools from first to ninth
and plants, offshore & shipbuilding. In the ninth schools, the fields broadly expanded into automobiles, software and food processing (Jang et al., 2014).
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Figure 5-3 ❙ The expansion of the selection of fields for Meister high schools
Meister high schools, which provide tailored vocational education to meet industrial demands, have the following characteristics:
First, only schools that can meet industrial demands are designated as Meister high schools. Among specialized high schools, the designation of Meister high school is for a school that is willing to make the transition to a Meister high school. The candidate for Meister high school is required to train manpower in an industrial field where there is a continuous demand for workers, to keep up with the standards for Meister high schools, and to have a good history of performance in relation to industry- government-academia cooperation, including between local industries and businesses, and between government ministries and local autonomous governments.
Second, the curriculum is developed by professionals in industrial settings. The process is carried out as follows: ① select a target occupation in which Meister high school students can work, ② review the NCS (formerly KSS, NOS) and various
materials of a job analysis, ③ analyze the DACUM, ④ organize the curriculum and develop operating guidelines. Many professionals from industry sectors, industrial human resources sector councils (SC) and colleges/universities participate in the development of the curriculum.
Third, besides the regular curriculum, there are various extracurricular activities such as after-school activities and majors-related clubs. These provide students with special knowledge and technology that the regular curriculum does not cover. Indeed, many Meister high schools operate customized classes for companies contracted for employment of students, thereby meeting the specific demands of the industry sector.
Fourth, Meister high schools retain and make use of competent teachers. They select the school head through an open recruitment system for principals to ensure that the principal assumes responsibility for operating a school. In addition, they improve the quality of classes by inviting experts in industrial settings and competent teachers. In particular, the current workers in industrial settings are invited as industrial- educational teachers in the regular curriculum, as well as after-school activities and club activities.
In addition to these characteristics, the selection and operation of Meister high schools have the following features:
First, the selection of Meister high schools was initially focused on local strategic industries by the Metropolitan and Provincial Offices of Education. However, to train human capital for national strategic industries, the selection of Meister high schools supported by government ministries is also promoted. In the near future, the selection of Meister high schools led by local autonomous governments and industries is expected to expand.
Second, although the Metropolitan and Provincial Offices of Education has generally provided the financial support for Meister high school, the central government supports some of the finances needed for their initial foundation and continues to support some of the operating expenses.
Third, based on the “Standards for Meister High Schools,” all selected Meister high schools must come up with an action plan for their conversion into a Meister high
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school. The relevant Office of Education organizes the opening of the school, and it appoints a professional organization for the preparations to open the school by considering the possibility of collecting the opinions of industries, the professional training of manpower, the partnerships with relevant ministries, and the feasibility of establishing industry-academic cooperation. With the cooperation of the related authorities, an “industry-academia-research institution-government cooperation system”
is set up in terms of the overall operation of the school, ranging from the selection of students and the operation of the curriculum to employment after graduation.
Fourth, besides regular teachers, industrial-educational teachers are hired and an employment-in-charge officer system is operated to provide field training education through educational participation by employees in industry sectors. Considering the infrastructure of vocational education in Korea and the characteristics of corporate structure, the operation of Meister high schools in Korea is focused on schools, which is different from that in Germany. To make up for such matters, industrial-educational teachers with industry work experience are employed, and for the promotion of industry-academic cooperation, the employment-in-charge officer system is adopted to relieve the burden of teachers and ensure educational excellence and the professionalism of industry-academic cooperation.
Source: Ministry of Education (2013)
Figure 5-4 ❙ The main contents of preparations for the opening of seventh Meister high schools
Fifth, global competency and convergence education have been promoted. Meister high schools provide support for foreign language education, overseas training and employment so that students can have the capability to be future global leaders.
Given that a rapid conversion between industries occurs, Meister high schools reflect such conditions in the curriculum, focusing on training manpower for future industries.
Sixth, Meister high schools are based on the high school system, but they consider the industrial demand and excellent new students, so they provide education at the level of a junior college or higher. Up until now, Meister high schools have been successfully operated. However, there is still a challenge to be solved in terms of the recognition of educational attainment of prerequisite learning at the level of a junior college or higher.
Seventh, a support center for Meister high schools is operated at the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training to pave the way for the successful establishment of Meister high schools. To successfully operate Meister high schools, there has been a need for the establishment of a professional institution that
Figure 5-5 ❙ Organization of support system for Meister high schools (as of 2011)
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is responsible for providing support for continuous consulting, the management of performance, and R&D. To this end, the support center has been established and operated from the initial policy-making stage for Meister high schools. Its establishment is considerably attributable to the promotion of Meister high schools.