Out of 43,188 people who received assistance from the center this year, 16,197 have returned to school or tried to enter society. (image: Mungyeong City Office)
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Many students outside of school are reportedly studying hard through government support or preparing to enter society through employment and job training.
According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, 16,000 out of 43,188 teenagers who used the Support Center for Out of School Teens have shown significant academic performance or employment results.
The center, which is operated nationwide by the Korea Youth Counseling and Welfare Institute, serves as a base for providing counseling, education, job experience and job support depending on the characteristics and desires of youth not enrolled in school.
Out of 43,188 people who received assistance from the center this year, 16,197, or 34.3 percent, have returned to school or tried to enter society.
In particular, the number of teenagers who passed the qualification exam was 10,342, up 9 percentage points from 13,303 last year, and those entering university was 897, up 26 percentage points from 712 year on year.
About 5,000 teenagers have participated in or gained employment through training including vocational training, qualification courses, and self-development programs.
Next year, the government budget for youth dropouts will increase by 19.5 percent to 22.7 billion won (US$19.4 million) from 19 billion won this year.
The government plans to provide free meals for teens who use the center and expand a space dedicated for dropouts to freely use for learning and communicating with their peers.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
