Universities that have secured professors by the government have decided to nurture 150,000 semiconductor talents over 10 years by loosening regulations, such as allowing them to increase their quota through new and expansion of semiconductor-related departments.
While the number of undergraduates in the semiconductor department is expected to increase by about 1,300, centering on universities in the metropolitan area, financial support will be strengthened for universities in non-metropolitan areas.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Park Soon-ae announced today (19th) the 'Semiconductor-related Talent Cultivation Plan' centered on these contents by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Ministry of Science and Technology Information and Communication, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
The Ministry of Education has established a high-tech industry talent nurturing TF in which these government ministries and specialized institutions participate to develop semiconductor experts and solve the manpower shortage of companies, and has been discovering policy tasks.
As the size of the semiconductor industry grows, the industry expects that the number of people in the semiconductor sector, which currently stands at about 177,000, will increase to 304,000 in 10 years.
In preparation for this, the government plans to allow universities to increase the number of faculty members as long as they meet the teacher retention rate when new or expanded departments in high-tech fields are established.
This applies equally to metropolitan and non-metropolitan universities.
Other standards in the university's operating regulations, such as teachers (校舍), school land (校地), and basic assets for profit, will be greatly relaxed.
Qualification requirements for adjunct and visiting professors in high-tech fields will also be relaxed, and national universities will lower the standard for securing full-time faculty related to department expansion (80→70%) considering that professors are allocated after consultation with the government.
We also decided to create a new 'contract quota system', which allows the quota of existing departments to be temporarily increased without the establishment of a separate department. The existing department consults with companies to select and educate students with 'employment conditions' outside of the quota.
The department of vocational high schools was reorganized, and 20 universities with excellent educational capabilities were designated as semiconductor specialized colleges and graduate schools.
This will increase the number of semiconductor-related departments by up to 5,700, including 1,100 masters, 2,000 bachelors, 1,000 professional bachelors, and 1,600 vocational high schools.
Of the 2,000 students expected to increase the number of undergraduates, a significant portion of the increase is expected to be increased by universities in the metropolitan area.
Kim Il-soo, head of the Higher Education Policy Department of the Ministry of Education, explained, "As a result of a demand survey for 40 universities (semiconductor department increase), 14 schools in the metropolitan area submitted an intention to increase 1,266 and 6 schools in the provinces submitted their intention to increase the number of students by 315."
Regarding the expected opposition from local universities, which are experiencing difficulties in recruiting new students, he added, "The metropolitan area will focus on deregulation, and non-metropolitan areas will go in the direction of providing more financial support than the metropolitan area."
Considering this increase in quota, assuming that 7.7% of graduates of semiconductor-related departments from 2022 to 2031 will be employed in the field, there will be approximately 45,000 semiconductor manpower who will advance into the high-tech industry.
Apart from increasing the quota, the government also expands the talent training program.
We will expand industry-academic-research projects to nurture professional talent, and establish a short-term intensive training course (semiconductor boot camp) project so that students from other majors can become semiconductor workers.
In order to nurture talented people who can be put into the field immediately, programs tailored to corporate needs and work-study parallel education courses will be increased at vocational high schools and vocational colleges.
The government estimates that up to 150,000 semiconductor talents can be nurtured by adding 105,000 students and incumbents who benefit from financial support projects such as re-education.
(SBS Digital News Bureau / Photo = Yonhap News)