The government decided to overhaul 117 departments at 82 vocational high schools nationwide, focusing on training talent for future industries such as artificial intelligence (AI), software (SW), robots, and automation. To that end, it plans to invest a total of 81.15 billion won.
The Ministry of Education on the 14th announced the selection results for schools for the "2026 vocational high school restructuring project." A total of 133 departments at 87 schools applied for this project, and after reviews by curriculum experts in each field, 117 departments were finally selected. Of these, 69 are in new industries and technologies such as AI and SW, and 23 are in regional strategic and specialized industries such as mobility and bio.
The vocational high school restructuring support project supports the reorganization of departments at specialized high schools and Meister high schools to respond to changes in the industrial structure, and the Ministry of Education has supported the reorganization of 1,247 departments at 440 schools in total since 2016.
In particular, this year, departments reflecting AI-related subjects accounted for 67.5% (79 departments) of all selected departments. The share has increased each year from 31.3% in 2024 to 48.9% in 2025. Notably, Seongnam Techno Science High School will reorganize its information security department into the AI cyber security department to train security experts based on AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), and big data.
By subject group, the shares were highest in machinery (21.4%), business and finance (12.8%), culture, arts, design, and broadcasting (12.8%), and electricity and electronics (11.1%). After roughly a one-year preparation period, the selected departments will begin recruiting new students for the 2028 academic year, and as a result, 75.9% of all vocational high schools will operate a revised curriculum starting in 2028.
The Ministry of Education and the city and provincial offices of education plan to provide department restructuring grants of 375 million won per class. The Ministry of Education will also offer consulting linked with industry to ensure the department reorganizations proceed stably.
Yu Ji-wan, a school support officer at the Ministry of Education, said, "Through customized department restructuring based on industry demand and regional strategic industries, we will actively support vocational high school students so they can grow into skilled technical talent with the capabilities demanded by future society."