Yongin City Signs Industry-Government-Academia Agreement to Support Specialized High School Enrollment and Employment

University-Linked Education for Golf and Landscape Architecture Students, Contract Department Operation
Mayor Sang-il Lee: "It Will Become a New Collaboration Model for Specialized High School Students"

Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province has partnered with major universities and companies to support specialized high school students in their college admissions and employment.

On the 27th, Yongin City announced on the 29th that it had signed an industry-academia-government agreement for the 'University-Linked Education and Industry-Customized Contract Departments Operation' to nurture students as talents by supporting the college admissions and employment of specialized high school students, including those from Yongin Bio High School.

At the industry-academia-research cooperation agreement ceremony for fostering future talents at specialized high schools, Lee Sang-il (center), Mayor of Yongin, Han Jin-su (fourth from the left), President of Yongin University, Kim Hee-jung (sixth from the left), and Jeong Seok-jin (eighth from the left), Principal of Yongin Bio High School, are holding up the agreement documents.
[Photo by Yongin City]

The agreement includes Yongin City, Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, Yongin Office of Education, Yongin Bio High School, Gwangju Jungang High School (Gwangju, Gyeonggi), Iljuk High School (Anseong), Yongin University, Asiana Country Club, and Hwaseong Sangnok Golf Club.

The agreement entails that students majoring in landscaping or golf-related departments at specialized high schools receive education from Yongin University’s golf department professors and others, and after graduation, enroll at Yongin University to study golf-related subjects through contract departments. It also includes agreements to enable these students to gain employment at Asiana Country Club and Hwaseong Sangnok Golf Club (Hwaseong City).

According to the agreement, Yongin University and four schools including Yongin Bio High School will engage in educational exchanges. Professors from Yongin University will give special lectures to students in landscaping and golf-related departments at Yongin Bio High School, Gwangju Jungang High School, and Iljuk High School, and support vocational education and practical training using university equipment.

Yongin University, Hwaseong Sangnok Golf Club, and Asiana Country Club will consult to operate the golf department as a practical, industry-customized contract department curriculum, and aim to lead to employment through various job training programs.

Yongin City, Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, and Yongin Office of Education will provide various administrative supports necessary for smooth operation of linked education between high schools and universities and contract departments between universities and industries.

Mayor Lee Sang-il said, "This collaborative model supporting specialized high school students’ college admissions and employment by local governments, education offices, universities, and companies working together is likely the first in Yongin City," adding, "I hope we faithfully implement the agreement by joining forces to provide practical help for students to pioneer their futures."

The city’s promotion of this agreement is part of the 'Yongin-Type Specialized High School Development Model,' a new career and college admission linkage project planned for local talent. The city has also been exploring various measures in consultation with the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education and others to strengthen the competitiveness of Yongin Bio High School, independently of this agreement. Yongin Bio High School began in 1966 as Songjeon Agricultural High School with three classes in the agriculture department and changed its name to Yongin Bio High School in 2009. Currently, about 150 students are enrolled in three departments: Bio Food, Landscaping Design, and Leisure Animals.

In April, under the city’s initiative, Yongin Bio High School, Yongin Office of Education, Yongin University, and local companies gathered to discuss ways to enhance the school’s competitiveness, including restructuring regional-linked departments. If selected for the Ministry of Education’s 'Vocational High School Restructuring 2.0 Support Project' through department restructuring, the school can receive about 375 million KRW per class for facilities, equipment, and educational training. Earlier, in March last year, the school also secured an 8.5 billion KRW budget from the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education to establish a dormitory for 100 students.