Lee calls for ending employment discrimination against non-college graduates

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with Lee's remarks; CHANGES headline)
SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak said Friday the government is considering sweeping measures to break employment discrimination against non-college graduates, stressing that hires should be made based on merits instead of academic background.
"What is important is how much effort one has made in life ... Just because one graduated from Seoul National University's engineering college does not mean a person will become a master technician," Lee said during a government meeting aimed at pushing for his "fair society" campaign.
The meeting was held at a local manufacturing firm, Will Technology Co., located in Suwon, south of Seoul, which is considered an exemplary company in its hiring of applicants who have only graduated from high school. Of a total of 230 employees, 97, or 42 percent, are without college diplomas.
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.



"Professional footballers should be good at kicking balls. Do they need to graduate from Seoul National University?" Lee said. The president cited Lee Chung-yong of the English Premier League club Bolton Wanderers as an example, saying he became a star player even though his formal education ended in middle school.
"Merits should count more than academic background," he said.
Lee said that the government will try to end institutional discrimination and is considering pushing the drive in a "drastic" way, including making it mandatory that a certain proportion of high school graduates without college diplomas are hired. Lee did not elaborate.
During the meeting, the labor ministry reported to Lee that it will carry out measures to expand benefits for those who have only graduated from high school as they serve in the military or seek employment.
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.
jschang@yna.co.kr