The Development of a National Certificate on the Basic Competencies for Korean Workers

1. INAP Conference - AASVET Meeting: Asian Session - The Development of a National Certificate on the Basic Competencies for Korean Workers May 26th, 2011 * Seung-IL Na ∙ **Jeong-Yoon Cho ∙ * Hyun-Jin Jang ∙ * Hee-Jin Sung *Vocational Education and Workforce Development Program, Seoul National University, 599 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, South Korea **Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education & Training, 46 Samseong-ro, 147gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 135-949, South Korea

2. Contents I Introduction II Methods V Implications III IV Conclusions Results

3. I. Introduction c Background Skill mismatch problem To Recruit and Retrain Cost for Basic Competencies are High • Youth unemployment rate : 8.5%(Statistics Office, 2011) • Workforce vacancy rate of companies : 17.6%(Ministry of Labor, 2009) • Recruiting cost of each applicant required 1 million 150 thousand KRW(1,150$) • Retraining time of new employees takes 19.5 month • Retraining cost of each new employees required 60 million KRW(60 thousand $)

4. I. Introduction • No certificate to assess the entire domain of basic competencies • Assessment the basic competencies are not eligible in National Technical Qualification system in Korea • NTQ Act scope has been included a section on basic skills in Article 8-2 • Assessing the basic competencies as a governmental requirement • Assessment-based certificate on basic competencies (e.g., GWRC in U.S.A) • Course-based certificate on basic competencies (e.g., FSQ & WSQ in the U.K., NCES in New Zealand, Employment skills in Australia) Needs for the Basic competencies Certificate in Korea Assessment the Basic Competencies in Advanced Countries The new installation needs be reviewed with focus on the necessity of certificate new installation, the validity in industrial fields, and plan for assessment and execution in consideration of relevant legal requirements

5. II. Method Methods(1) • Literature Review - Reviews previous studies on the basic competencies qualification and websites in Korea and other countries • Survey of Industrial Needs • Population : Member companies of Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry • Sampling : 400 companies were sampled randomly among 1,065 member companies of Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry • Benchmark of Overseas Case • Countries : U.S., Australia, New Zealand, U.K., Japan • On-site survey for Australia and New Zealand • Expert invitation and local expert’s investigation for U.S cases

6. II. Method Methods(2) • Expert Consultation • Three session of expert consultation have been exequted for validity of this study • Panel: Vocational Experts, Qualification Experts, Vocational High school Teachers • Public Hearing • One session of public hearing for validity of the plan proposed in this study • Modified and supplemented newly installing basic competencies assessment plan

7. III. Results Industries’ Needs for the Certification(1) ※ Over half of companies answered that objective identification of applicant’s basic competencies in hiring process is difficult 28.5% 56.1% 71.5 45.9% Objective identification of applicant’s basic competencies Usefulness of assessment on the basic competencies ※ Most of companies answered that the assessment of basic competencies is useful to their company

8. III. Results Industries’ Needs for the Certification(2) 14.8% ※ Most of companies answered that they will reflect basic competencies certificate in hiring process 85.2% Intention to Use Certificate on Basic Competencies Need for the Level and Output of the Certificate 45.8% ※ 85.6%(39.8% + 45.8%) of companies want to be provided multiple level(three level) certificate ※ Also, 54.3%(39.8% + 14.5%) of companies need raw score 39.8% Ratio 14.5% ③Raw Score ①Multiple Level + Raw Score ②Multiple Level

9. III. Results Overseas Cases for Benchmarking

10. III. Results The Purpose of the Basic Competencies Certificate • To provide objective signal on the level of employment skills required for job seekers as an holistic assessment • Through the certificate related with other business policies, pursue advancement of the national human resource development system Assessment of Employment Skills Certificate Mediating project between job seekers and employers Identifies the skills required for company(Job Profiling) Vocational training to enhance employability skills Advancement of National HRD Building employment DBfor future-oriented workforce S/D

11. III. Results Name and Type of the Certificate Name • Employment Skills Certificate National Technical Qualification Type • Service field certificate as a common skills of all occupations according to Article 8-2 of National Technical Qualification Act Skills & Technology Field Service Field Employment Skills Certificate

12. III. Results Assessment Domains and Methods of the Certificate Assessment Domains • Composed three dimensions • Paper & Pencil test, or CBT Assessment Methods • Future research are required • To develop assessment criteria • To develop assessment items

13. III. Results Levels and Components of the Certification Certificate levels Components of the Certification • Name of certificate • Certificate level , Total score, Percentile • Level and score of each assessment domain • Name of assessment and management institutions

14. III. Results Applicants and Fee of the Certificate • Job seekers, and Employment applicant and workers seeking for job competencies improvement of job competencies • No restriction is imposed in the application Applicants • Determined in consideration of the number of applicants, the cost of problem development and assessment • According to the mid-long term cost-benefit analysis • Partial support of application fee by government should be considered Application Fee

15. III. Results Management and Operation System of the Certificate Employment Policy & Management (Ministry of Employment and Labor) Forecast Workforce supply/demand using DB Assessment of Employment skills Certificate Job Profiling Vocational Education & Training (Companies) (VET Institutes) (Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry) Job seekers-Job recruiter Matching Jobs Job Seekers (Employment centers, etc) (companies) (Assessment applicant)

16. IV. Conclusions Conclusions • The objective assessment of basic competencies is necessary to solve the workforce supply and demand mismatch problem of Korea for the individual workers and employers. • To that end, an Employment Skills Certificate is necessary newly proposed based on the National Technical Qualification Act. • This certificate, which serves as signal to represent the objective basic competencies level of job seekers, is anticipated to solve skill mismatch.

17. V. Implications Implications • It is necessary to actively review the new installation of qualification system to objectively represent the basic and common competencies level required for all the job seekers • This certificate will help solve the problem that National Technical Qualifications have been assessed only on occupational competencies, and improve the utility of qualification. • In particular, Asian countries also are required to review adopt basic competencies certificate in consideration of the circumstance that assessment of basic competencies is increasingly important to evaluate basic capability in executing works and adapt in rapidly changing environment in globalized society.

18. Thank you