More Graduates Head to Vocational Schools

Published on 2015/09/13 | Source

A growing number of graduates from four-year universities are signing up for vocational colleges to boost their chances of landing a job, according to data New Politics Alliance for Democracy lawmaker Yoo Ki-hong obtained from the Korean Council for University College Education.

The number of graduates who choose this path increased from 1,102 in 2012 to 1,379 this year and would be even higher if students who drop out of universities to go to vocational schools are included.

An official at the council said, "There has been an increasing awareness that specific skills can go further in landing a job than a university degree, which has led to a growing number of university graduates returning to vocational colleges. Vocational colleges offer hands-on courses that are closely correlated to the needs of businesses".

One 28-year-old graduate went on to study nursing at vocational college and found a job as a hospital nurse. "When I graduated from high school, I thought I was in a better position than my classmate who went to vocational college to study dental hygiene, but my views changed quickly when I saw that friend get a job right out of school. I realized that the most important thing is to be able to have the knowhow to perform on the job".

Nursing is the most popular field among university dropouts. Next are preschool education and physiotherapy.

Last year, the employment rate among fresh vocational school graduates was 61 percent, compared to 52.6 percent for university graduates. The gap increased from 5.3 percent in 2012 to 8.4 percent in 2014.

Yoo said more students are re-entering vocational colleges to change course every year, which is a waste of time and money.

"Gone are the days when going to university was the goal and graduates landed jobs if they searched hard enough", said Yang Jung-ho at Sungkyunkwan University. "We need to develop a system where students can choose the schools they want based on their interests and find a variety of different job options".