Overseas internship for youth extends to Middle East

A government-funded overseas internship program for university students has extended its reach to the Middle East.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Wednesday that it has decided to expand global internship opportunities for the students.

The ministry currently provides the program in cooperation with the Korean Council for University Education and the Korean Council for College Education.

Some 125 students comprised of 65 university students and 60 two-year college students will be selected within this month. They will take an orientation course and be dispatched to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in September.

The opportunity to work in the region, which is undergoing a second wave of industrialization, with numerous large scale construction projects underway, would provide a great experience to the youth, the ministry said.

The students will be working in the fields of emerging markets, development cooperation, higher value-added service businesses and international organizations.

The project which was initiated in 2009, has been sending some 300 students abroad each year to the United States, Australia and countries in Europe as well as Southeast Asia.

Qualifications for applicants include a grade point average of 3.0 or above out of 4.5 and a certain level of foreign language ability. University students are required to have completed four semesters, and two-year college students two semesters.

University students will be selected by their schools and the Korean Council for College Education will select two-year college students who have received recommendations from their schools.

Students from low-income families will be given priority in the selection process, in order to expand opportunities for them to obtain experience abroad.

Airfare and insurance costs are covered by state funding and part of the living expenses will also be subsidized. <The Korea Times/Kim Bo-eun>

news@theasian.asia