Yongsan-gu and Yongsan Technical High School Sign Cooperation Agreement at Yongsan-gu Office on the 5th... Priority Admission of Local Residents for New Students Following Yongsan Technical High School Railway Department Restructuring
[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Yongsan-gu (Mayor Seongjang Hyun), the "home of Korean railroads," will have the only public railway high school in South Korea.
Yongsan Technical High School (Principal Seongbong Kang), a specialized vocational high school in the area, was finally selected as a target for the Ministry of Education's "2020 Vocational High School Restructuring Support Project."
Through this, the Mechanical Department at Yongsan Technical High School will be changed to the "Railroad Operation Machinery Department," the Electrical Department to the "Railroad Electrical Signal Department," the Electronics and Communications Department to the "Railroad Electronics and Communications Department," and the Architecture and Civil Engineering Department to the "Railroad Construction Department."
The school name will also be changed to (tentatively) Seoul Railroad High School.
Admissions for the Railroad Operation Machinery Department will begin in 2021, and for the Railroad Electrical Signal, Railroad Electronics and Communications, and Railroad Construction Departments from 2022. Applications are open nationwide. The school will hold four admission briefings from October to November.
A Yongsan Technical High School official said, "The importance of railroads as an eco-friendly transportation means is increasing," adding, "Through the restructuring of the railroad high school, we can nurture excellent technical personnel and contribute to resolving youth unemployment and realizing a strong railroad nation."
Since Yongsan Technical High School is located near major national stations such as Seoul Station and Yongsan Station, it plans to actively conduct field-centered education after the railroad high school restructuring. It will also strengthen industry-academia cooperation by signing memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with railroad-related institutions and companies.
Originally, Yongsan Technical High School was established as a railroad workforce training institution (Railroad Dual Training Center, 1905). It was renamed Gyeongseong Railroad School in 1919, Transportation High School in 1951, and finally Yongsan Technical High School in 1963.
In 1967, the railroad high school separated from Yongsan Technical High School. The railroad high school became an affiliated railroad high school of the Railroad Specialized School (now Korea National University of Transportation) in 1977 but was closed in 1986 after 19 years since its establishment.
On the 5th, the district signed a memorandum of understanding with Yongsan Technical High School to establish a mutual cooperation system and promote regional educational development. Accordingly, the district will actively promote the railroad high school restructuring to residents and support school operations.
The school plans to prioritize a certain percentage of new students from among district residents.
Seongjang Hyun, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, "When the inter-Korean railroad connection is realized in the future, a large-scale professional technical workforce will be needed," adding, "Yongsan, the home of Korean railroads and the starting point of the continental railroad, will become a cradle for producing practical talents together with the railroad high school."
Meanwhile, the "Sin Yongsan" area, developed as a large-scale military railroad base during the Japanese colonial period, had various facilities such as the railroad school, railroad bureau, railroad hospital, railroad factory, railroad housing, and railroad library established and operated.
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