Education Policy Leadership

in Korea

Myongsook S. Oh

Korean Society for Engineering Education

and

Department of Chemical Engineering, Hongik University

WEEF 2012Buenos Aires, Argentina

October 15 - 18, 2012

South Korea Population: 48,219,000 Area: 99,393 km2

GDP: 12th in the world in 2012 Car manufacturing(5th),

shipbuilding(1st), steel production(5th), semiconductor production(1st)

Web connection: over 80% of the households

Percent of college enrollments: 72.5% in 2011, (33.2% in 1991, peaked in 2008 at 83.8%)

Educational StructureAGE Grade28 4

Graduate School27 326 225 124 2

Graduate School23 122 4

University21 320 219 118 3

High School17 216 1 　15 3

Junior High School　

14 2 　13 1 　12 6

Elementary School

　11 5 　10 4 　9 3 　8 2 　7 1 　6 1 Kindergarten

Ph. D.

Master

Bachelor

Mandatory

College ScholasticAbility Test

6-3-3-4 years

　

　

　

　

　

22 months ofMilitary service(mandatory for male)

Statistics on Education

4-year Universities

Junior Colleges

Institutions 179 146

StudentsTotal 1,359,000 489,000

Engineering 317,000 92,000

GraduatesTotal 279,000 199,000

Engineering 65,000 40,000

Number of Professors

Total 54,500 12,500

Engineering 11,000 3,300

Employment Ratio

Total 60.7% 81.5%

Engineering 61.4% 93.2%

Source: Statistical Yearbook of Education, 2009

Women in Engineering

Source: Report on Women in Science and Technology, Jan. 2011 Korea Advanced Institute of Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology

Education Policies

Ref: Kwang-Jo Kim, Education Reform in Korea- Towards a System of Lifelong Learning, website, (2008)

Education Policies from 1948-1990’s

Top down policies to support economic development plans and provide trained workers Prior to 1975, 65% of educational budget was spent on

primary education Expanded support to secondary education after 1975 Since late 1990s, investments were made to improve the

quality of tertiary education Standardized National curriculum

The federal government had the most control over the national curriculum

Expansion of school facilities came first Quality improvements (e. g. class-size reduction) after

1990s

The Educational Reform in 1995 (I)

A new vision for education suitable for the twenty-first century knowledge-based economy Open, lifelong education that would provide individuals wit

h equal and easy access to education at any time and any place.

Education through technology. Long-range goal was to raise the quality of education to a

world-standard level of excellence. Ambitious and comprehensive reform plans to

restructure the entire education system Deregulation and school governance reform Curriculum reform (the 7th national curriculum) Increase in public funding Use of ICT in school and classrooms

The Educational Reform in 1996 (2)

Under the new vision, a well educated Korean is a person who seeks to develop his/her own individuality on the basis of

well-rounded and wholesome development demonstrates creative ability on the basis of a solid

grounding in basic knowledge and skills explores career paths on the basis of broad intellectual

knowledge and skills in diverse academic disciplines creates new values on the basis of understanding the

national culture contributes to the development of the community where

he/she lives, on the basis of democratic citizenship

The Seventh National Curriculum

The seventh curriculum since 1954 Implemented in March 2000 Aim to prepare students for the knowledge-based, g

lobalized 21st century. Emphasizes individuality, creativity, and knowledge of Kor

ean culture as well as other cultures. Students were allowed to choose their own courses in thei

r final two years of high school. Emphasis on foreign language education: English

instruction begins in primary school and additional foreign language classes are offered in high school.

Chemistry and physics are electives and avoided by majority of students

The Educational Reform in 1996:University Level Reform

Merge and consolidation of similar disciplines (e.g., Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry)

Students were admitted to a school A school can be a unit with more than 2 departments.

Transfer students were accepted Information disclosure: Mandatory disclosure of

enrollment rate, retention & graduation rate, employment rate, etc.

Funding for quality enhancement of higher education Major department credits required: 35 units out of

130 ~ 140 total credits required to graduate

Introduction of an accreditation program to strengthen the engineering education

Programs for Quality Enhancement of Higher Education

Accreditation of Engineering Program (ABEEK) Brain Korea 21

The first phase: 1999 ~ 2005, US$ 1.4 billion The second phase: 2006 ~ 2012, US$ 2.3 billion

New University for Regional Innovation (NURI): 2004 ~ 2008 World-Class University: 2008 ~ 2012 Innovation Centers for Engineering Education (ICEE)

The first phase: 2007 ~ 2011 The second phase: 2012 ~

Women in Engineering Program: 2007 ~ Hub Universities for Industrial Collaboration: ‘08~’11 Leaders in Industrial Collaborations: 2012 ~

ABEEK and ICEE Outcome on Engineering Education

Delegate much of the policy-making authority related to primary, middle and high school education to regional education offices

Greater autonomy in the selection of new students Increase in-bound student mobility More interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary studies Increase in public funds/support and more financial

aids/loans to students Merge and consolidation of schools More rigorous undergraduate education Universities specializing different fields and

developing unique programs

Future Directions

Educational Growth

Unprecedented increase in primary and secondary education from around 1975 to 1990 when the country also grew at a rapid rate.

A growth in tertiary education took place thereafter and continues to date.

This expansion can be explained by a number of convergent factors: cultural and historical reasons, economic growth, value placed on education, government policies that promote educational achievemen

t

The Educational Reform in 1995Backgrounds

Jobless growth Changes in industry/occupation structure Demographic changes Industry-Academia Gap

Training a new engineer to be self-sufficient takes an average of 3 years

Mismatch of supply and demand in engineering disciplines and levels of skills

Lack of IT engineers vs. overflow of engineers in conventional fields

Engineering curriculum Insufficient up-to-date industrial examples in course

materials World ranking of Korean Universities

Accreditation of Engineering Program

Accreditation Board for Engineering Education in Korea (ABEEK) was formed in 1998. Accreditation began in 2001

ABEEK is a full signatory of the Washington Accord, and a provisional member of the Sydney Accord and the Dublin Accord

ABEEK played a key role in establishing the Seoul Accord for the computing and IT-related education at the tertiary level.

As of March, 2012, 630 programs in 95 universities (EAC : 544, CAC : 51, TAC : 35) have been accredited.

Accredited Programs

Academia – Industry Gap

Training a new engineer to be self-sufficient takes an average of 3 years

Mismatch of supply and demand in engineering disciplines and levels of skills Lack of IT engineers vs. overflow of engineers in

conventional fields

Engineering curriculum Insufficient up-to-date industrial examples in

course materials

Reference: The Status of Engineering Education in Korea and Suggestions for the Future, National Academy of Engineering in Korea (2010)

Innovation Center for Engineering Education (ICEE)

Launched in 2007 and about 60 centers have completed the first 5-year program

The second stage of the ICEE project is starting in 2012 with a newly selected 65 centers nationwide.

Main objectives To enhance engineering educational programs to meet the

needs of the industries in the region To seek a continuing collaboration with the industry on

development of relevant educational contents. Key Agenda

Development of need-based programs Improvement of education/ teaching methods Improvements of assessment/ evaluation systems Enhancement of industry collaboration

21

ICEE Project Outcome - Visible ICEE Project Outcome - Visible

1) Increase of industry satisfaction - Company tailored tracks- Cultivation of design ability and skills through

capstone design

2) Increase of students satisfaction - PBL - Design Camps

3) Settlement of ABEEK

4) Increase of exchanges between domestic and foreign universities

Reference: Joo. W. J., The 3rd Annual Forum of SKKU Hub Center for IEEHyatt Regency, Jeju, Korea (2011)

22

1) New wind to engineering education2) Change of culture in university society

- From competition to cooperation - From isolation to openness 3) Real time sharing of project products between

universities. 4) Minimization of trial and error5) Contribution to other communities (ABEEK, KSEE, etc)

ICEE Project Outcome - Invisible ICEE Project Outcome - Invisible

Brain Korea 21 and Hub Universities

Brain Korea 21 Program Launched in 1999. Support graduate students and

post doctoral researchers Have funded 517 research groups in 69 universities Partial achievements (2009):

9% increase in total number of papers published 25% increase in number of Ph. D. Provided more opportunities for global experience

Hub University for industrial collaboration Launched in 2008 Main Objective: to develop engineering education

programs and strategies to enhance collaboration with regional industries.

Women in Engineering Program

Launched in 2006, and funded 5 universities across Korea for 6 years

The second stage of the WIE program was expanded to 16 universities, covering different regions of Korea.

Main objectives: To promote more inclusive class environment To develop programs for women engineers to be

more competitive in the job market (e.g. leadership, machine handling skills etc.)

To increase an employment ratio of female students in their engineering disciplines