Drone, VR+AR, Big Data, Alternative Energy Selected for Match-Up New Projects

Short-term Training Under 6 Months, Courses Developed Directly by Industry Professionals
Up to 320 Million KRW Support for Education Institution-Company Consortiums

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Four new consortiums have been selected as operators of the short-term online education program 'Match-Up Project' for job seekers and employees, which is a collaboration between companies in new industries and educational institutions.

On the 27th, the Ministry of Education and the National Institute for Lifelong Education announced that one consortium per field was selected for the 'Industry-tailored Short-term Job Competency Certification Course Match-Up Project' in the fields of ▲Drone ▲Virtual/Augmented Reality ▲Big Data ▲Alternative Energy.

The Match-Up Project involves leading companies and educational institutions in new industries forming alliances to participate. It is a short-term education program lasting less than six months, where current industry professionals directly participate in job design and course development, enabling immediate application in the field. Currently, over 20,000 people are participating in 32 Match-Up courses across 8 fields. Seventy-three companies utilize the Match-Up completion results and job competency certification evaluation results to provide hiring advantages or recognize training hours.

In the drone field, LIG Nex1 and Dong Seoul University will collaborate to design a drone education curriculum including coding, maintenance, piloting, and filming. In the virtual/augmented reality field, Unity Technologies Korea and Namseoul University will organize the curriculum, while in the big data field, DataStreams and Korea Cyber University will plan the courses. In the alternative energy field, Korea Gas Corporation and Soonchunhyang University will join forces to produce practice-oriented content.

The Ministry of Education will support up to 320 million KRW this year per consortium selected as a new operator for curriculum development costs. The selected consortiums will develop the curriculum and certification evaluation and operate the courses starting from the first half of next year. The smart city (Korea MS, Naver-Dankook University) and intelligent automobile (Hyundai Motor-Hyundai NGV) courses selected in 2020 have also been newly established this year and are recruiting learners.

Jung Byung-ik, Director of the Lifelong Future Education Bureau at the Ministry of Education, said, "We will prepare ways to utilize Match-Up in various areas, such as recognizing Match-Up courses as university credits."