South Korea is seeking to improve the professional qualifications of its young people and follow the example of the cooperative education system in Germany. To this end, high-ranking representatives of the South Korean Ministry of Education visited the precision tools manufacturer MAPAL to find out about industrial technical training in the company. The results are to be included in a pilot project that the Korean government wants to introduce in 2015. A television crew from Seoul accompanied the delegation and observed eight Korean pupils during their training period at MAPAL.
South Korea has become a significant industrialised country and is also an important outlet for MAPAL. Since 1992 MAPAL has had its own sales and production branch in Kyonggi-Do, near Seoul. Good contacts have existed for many years between MAPAL and Busan Mechanical Technical High School (BMT), a boarding school in Busan, the second largest city in Korea. BMT is one of nine schools to take part in a pilot project of the South Korean government next year to introduce cooperative education. In search of cooperating companies, the Commission turned to MAPAL even before the campaign and the idea was very well received. President Dr. Dieter Kress gladly agreed to the cooperation. "We need qualified employees and are always willing to invest in the training of young people", explained Dr. Kress this first occasion to date that a German company has committed to this type of cooperation.
MAPAL invited eight vocational students from Korea aged between 17 and 18 and their supervisors to Germany for three months. The prospective mechanics will learn theoretical and practical information about machining technology at the MAPAL workshops in Aalen and Altenstadt until the beginning of December. The close contact to their German colleagues when learning and working together, as well as visiting surrounding companies, a successful trip to the AMB trade fair in Stuttgart and many free-time activities allow the students to expand their technical and cultural knowledge. The young Koreans approached this right from the start with interest and a great deal of enthusiasm. MAPAL will offer them a job in the Korean branch once they have completed their training. Kim Hong Sun, Director of Vocational Training at the Korean Ministry of Education was clearly impressed after the discussions with the organisers at MAPAL and the visit to the training workshop in Aalen. "We can learn a lot from you", she said.
Up to now in South Korea, training has focused mainly on passing on theoretical knowledge. But with more practical experience, the South Korean government wants to give pupils the chance to gain better professional qualifications. During the visit of the Government Commission, MAPAL signed a memorandum which stated that the company is willing to be a training partner for the Korean educational institutions in the future in order to provide sustainable support in the introduction of cooperative education in South Korea. A film team of the national broadcasting network EBS (Korea Educational Broadcasting System) that accompanied the delegation will give an account of the visit to the Commission and the training of the eight young Koreans at MAPAL in a scheduled television report.
Image material:
Image 1: MAPAL has agreed to cooperate with representatives from the South Korean Education Commission in terms of industrial technical training. From left to right: Joo-Suk Park (Managing Director at MAPAL HTT Co. Ltd.), Dr. Joong Soon Lee (Head Teacher of Busan National Mechanical Technical High School), Dr. Hong Sun Kim, (Responsible Head of the Korean Ministry of Education), Dr. Dieter Kress (President at MAPAL).
Image 2: A Korean television crew documented the training at MAPAL.
South Korea has become a significant industrialised country and is also an important outlet for MAPAL. Since 1992 MAPAL has had its own sales and production branch in Kyonggi-Do, near Seoul. Good contacts have existed for many years between MAPAL and Busan Mechanical Technical High School (BMT), a boarding school in Busan, the second largest city in Korea. BMT is one of nine schools to take part in a pilot project of the South Korean government next year to introduce cooperative education. In search of cooperating companies, the Commission turned to MAPAL even before the campaign and the idea was very well received. President Dr. Dieter Kress gladly agreed to the cooperation. "We need qualified employees and are always willing to invest in the training of young people", explained Dr. Kress this first occasion to date that a German company has committed to this type of cooperation.
MAPAL invited eight vocational students from Korea aged between 17 and 18 and their supervisors to Germany for three months. The prospective mechanics will learn theoretical and practical information about machining technology at the MAPAL workshops in Aalen and Altenstadt until the beginning of December. The close contact to their German colleagues when learning and working together, as well as visiting surrounding companies, a successful trip to the AMB trade fair in Stuttgart and many free-time activities allow the students to expand their technical and cultural knowledge. The young Koreans approached this right from the start with interest and a great deal of enthusiasm. MAPAL will offer them a job in the Korean branch once they have completed their training. Kim Hong Sun, Director of Vocational Training at the Korean Ministry of Education was clearly impressed after the discussions with the organisers at MAPAL and the visit to the training workshop in Aalen. "We can learn a lot from you", she said.
Up to now in South Korea, training has focused mainly on passing on theoretical knowledge. But with more practical experience, the South Korean government wants to give pupils the chance to gain better professional qualifications. During the visit of the Government Commission, MAPAL signed a memorandum which stated that the company is willing to be a training partner for the Korean educational institutions in the future in order to provide sustainable support in the introduction of cooperative education in South Korea. A film team of the national broadcasting network EBS (Korea Educational Broadcasting System) that accompanied the delegation will give an account of the visit to the Commission and the training of the eight young Koreans at MAPAL in a scheduled television report.
Image material:
Image 1: MAPAL has agreed to cooperate with representatives from the South Korean Education Commission in terms of industrial technical training. From left to right: Joo-Suk Park (Managing Director at MAPAL HTT Co. Ltd.), Dr. Joong Soon Lee (Head Teacher of Busan National Mechanical Technical High School), Dr. Hong Sun Kim, (Responsible Head of the Korean Ministry of Education), Dr. Dieter Kress (President at MAPAL).
Image 2: A Korean television crew documented the training at MAPAL.
