전문기술인력 양성 및 활용의 선진화 방안 구상

Abstract

As Korea''s industrial structure has changed into more technology-intensive advanced level, demand for professional technicians has continuously increased. Consequently the focus of vocational education has shifted from high school to junior college and the importance of employees'' re-training to upgrade skills and knowledge is more emphasized. However, junior college education in Korea is confronted with several problems such as oversupply, manpower mismatch in terms of both quantity and quality, lack of recognition and low utilization of junior college education results in labor market, low academic ability of students, limited provision of re-training programs for adults, and loss of junior college''s identity distinguished from 4-year university. This policy memo intends to suggest right policy measures to tackle the problems mentioned above and strategically respond to changing trends in skills demand: (1) optimizing the size of junior college education provision by introducing exit-ways in which inferior junior colleges can get out of higher education market; (2) providing employment-oriented vocational education programs based on industries'' skill demands and introducing the evaluation system for junior college education performance; (3) increasing re-training opportunities for incumbent workers; and (4) building comprehensive and practical information system that provides specific information on demand & supply of professional technicians.