Gov't to expand benefits for high school graduates

SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Yonhap) -- The government said Friday it will expand benefits for those who have only graduated from high school as they serve in the military or seek employment in an effort to break discrimination against those without college diplomas and to promote the perception that merits matter more than academic background.
The labor ministry unveiled a series of support measures for high school graduates during a meeting with President Lee Myung-bak convened to discuss his "fair society" drive that calls for ending corruption, ensuring equal opportunities and narrowing the growing gap between rich and poor.
The benefits include placing male graduates from engineering and other vocational high schools in positions that require their skills when they complete their mandatory military service. For example, males who studied mechanical engineering in high school and have an auto repair job will be given a similar assignment in the military.
All able-bodied, young South Korean men are required to serve about two years in the military.
Employed male high school graduates will also be allowed to delay their military service or pick the date they enter the armed forces, a privilege that has only been given to college students thus far.
In addition, government offices and public agencies will revise personnel affairs regulations to provide high school graduates with the same treatment as college graduates after they work at those agencies for four years, the ministry said in a press release.
Other measures include expanding state subsidies and tax benefits for companies that hire high school graduates.
In South Korea, nearly 80 percent of high school students go to college due to the widespread social practice of judging one's abilities based on one's academic background. The so-called academic inflation has been a chronic social problem in the country.