Samsung announced that it held the entrance ceremony for the 13th class of the Samsung Youth Software Academy (SSAFY) at its Seoul campus in Gangnam on the 24th.
The entrance ceremony for the 13th class of SSAFY was attended by over 100 students at the Seoul campus, while around 900 students participated online from campuses in Daejeon, Gwangju, Gumi, and Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam.
SSAFY trains developers who can be immediately deployed in the field through 1,600 hours of intensive training and collaborative projects among students, conducted daily for 8 hours over the course of one year.
The training program is free of charge, and all students receive a monthly educational support fund of 1 million won. Besides education, programs for employment are conducted, such as job fairs and informational sessions with corporations, alongside an employment support center offering career counseling, interview consulting, and continuous provision of recruitment information.
Since starting its first program on December 1, 2018, SSAFY has provided educational opportunities to approximately 11,000 young individuals, and about 6,700 of the around 8,000 graduates from the 1st to 10th classes have secured jobs, recording an employment rate of around 84%.
As more SSAFY graduates work in corporations, the number of companies preferentially hiring these practical talents has reached over 170.
At the entrance ceremony, not only graduates from universities but also 'high school graduates' who completed Meister high schools were admitted as part of the '13th class of SSAFY.'
Samsung had previously conducted SSAFY training for unemployed university graduates but decided in June of last year to expand eligibility to Meister high school graduates for 'equal opportunity for education.' To help the first cohort of Meister high school graduates adapt and enhance their understanding of software (SW), a 'SW Creativity Camp' was arranged before enrollment.
The SW Creativity Camp took place from January 20 to 24 at the Seoul campus. In the camp, 'senior' SW developers with high school backgrounds served as instructors, conducting special lectures on AI and algorithms, as well as providing mentoring to encourage and support juniors starting their careers as SW developers.
The entrance ceremony for the 13th class of SSAFY, held at the Seoul campus, was attended by Vice Minister Kim Min-seok of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, lawmaker Kim Jae-seop of the People Power Party, lawmaker Kim Jun-hyuk of the Democratic Party, House leader Cheon Ha-ram of the Reform Party, President Park Seung-hee of Samsung Electronics CR, and over 100 students.