95% of WorldSkills Competition award winners come from vocational high schools

[Financial News] At least nine out of 10 WorldSkills Competition award winners were found to come from vocational high schools. Three of the four gold medals at this competition were also won by athletes who graduated from vocational high schools and work at Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Electronics and Samsung Heavy Industries.
The Ministry of Education said on the 27th that 38 of the 40 award winners at the 48th WorldSkills Competition, held in Shanghai, China, last September, or 95%, came from vocational high schools. South Korea placed second overall, winning four gold medals, 14 silver medals, six bronze medals and 16 excellence awards.

Gold medalist Yoo Ye-chan graduated from Dong-A Meister High School and joined Samsung Electro-Mechanics in 2024. While in high school, Yoo learned electronic technology in an advanced major-related club and went on to win a gold medal at the 2023 Daejeon Regional Skills Competition and a silver medal at the National Skills Competition. After going through the national team selection trials and completing about a year of intensive training in Korea and training camps overseas, Yoo won gold in the Optoelectronics category.
Gold medalist in the Web Technologies category Son Hyeon-bin is also a graduate of Yeosu Information Science High School. Son first encountered web technologies after joining a web design and development club at the recommendation of a teacher in the first year of high school. After winning gold at the 2023 National Skills Competition, Son was selected for the national team and continued training after joining Samsung Electronics, going on to take the top spot at the international competition.
Park Ji-min, who won gold in the Industrial Control category, graduated from Yeongnam Technical High School and joined Samsung Heavy Industries in 2024. After winning silver at the 2023 National Skills Competition, Park gained practical experience in the industrial field while honing skills through in-house training. Park was selected for the national team after two rounds of competition and won gold at this competition.
Vocational high school graduates also made up a large share of award winners at domestic competitions. At the 61st National Skills Competition, held in Incheon last August, 312 of the 384 award winners were counted as current or former vocational high school students. That represents 81.2%. The figure includes only cases where the award winners’ schools could be confirmed.
The Ministry of Education provides staged support for vocational high school students, from career exploration to job training, job placement with companies and growth after employment. It offers first- and second-year students opportunities to visit companies and carry out research projects, and supports job-training programs linked to recruitment and tailored to companies’ needs for third-year students. It also helps connect companies and students with jobs through the Central Employment Support Center.
Students who find jobs after graduation receive employment-linked incentive grants to help them settle into the workplace and grow. Graduates who have been unable to find work or decide on a career path can receive employment skills training and career counseling at hub schools providing follow-up support for high school graduates.
Yoo Ji-wan, a school support officer at the Ministry of Education, said, "The fact that 90% or more of the national team for the WorldSkills Competition come from vocational high schools shows how important it is to discover young people’s interests and aptitudes related to technology and develop their abilities from an early age." 

[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter