Gyeonggi Province Official Training Shifts to AI-Based 'User-Desired Education'

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Gap-dong] Starting from now, Gyeonggi Province officials will be able to request education on any subject, knowledge, or policy they wish to learn.

Public official education is undergoing an innovative shift from a system where officials choose from predetermined courses to one where individually desired courses are offered.

The Gyeonggi Human Resources Development Institute (Director Kim Ki-eun) announced its 'Education Innovation Implementation Plan' on the 28th and stated that it will begin implementation from September. The core of this innovation plan lies in transforming the provider-centered curriculum that has continued since the institute's opening in 1957 into a user-centered approach, marking the first change in 67 years since its establishment. The existing Gyeonggi Province official education system operated by having the institute establish and publicly announce year-long curricula and schedules, after which users would apply for desired courses according to the schedule.

The province explained the background for education reform, noting that the current public official education system has deteriorated into merely fulfilling mandatory training hours and serving as a means to avoid work, rather than being genuine time for knowledge and skill acquisition.

The Gyeonggi Human Resources Development Institute will first collect user-desired education requests on an ongoing basis and accept applications monthly for user-centered education. For example, if desired education applications are received immediately in January, an education plan will be established, and course registration will begin in February. If course registration results exceed the minimum of 5 participants required to enable education, it becomes an official course and actual training takes place in March. If the minimum is not met, the course is automatically cancelled. By repeating this process monthly, the institute believes that education aligned with what Gyeonggi officials wish to learn and are interested in will naturally take root.

To facilitate smooth education support, the institute has decided to introduce AI utilization and a credit-based system. For AI implementation, the Gyeonggi Human Resources Development Institute plans to construct the AI-based educational platform 'G Mamkdaero Kok' with a target launch date of October 2025. G Mamkdaero Kok is a type of AI-based learning assistant that recommends necessary education or topics to learners by inputting their career history, existing educational data, hobbies, and interests. Additionally, it plans to recommend education schedule management and educational planning for users. The format of education delivery will also shift from the existing collective training method lasting 3-4 days to a credit-based system where learners only attend necessary lectures for 1-2 hours per day.

Educational content will also be reformed, with existing job-related training such as Excel courses and PR specialist programs being converted to online lectures, while offline education will feature more concrete and interesting topics. However, as this is part of the public official training curriculum, education on major provincial policies, policy-related areas such as climate and demographic changes affecting residents' lives, and disaster response capacity building will account for 50% of all courses to ensure capacity enhancement.

The Gyeonggi Human Resources Development Institute plans to conduct a pilot program regarding specific education innovation measures starting in September, with full implementation beginning in 2026.

Kim Ki-eun, Director of the Gyeonggi Human Resources Development Institute, said, "Moving away from the old approach of force-feeding education to a method where learners select desired courses like picking fruit from a basket is Korea's first in the public sector," adding, "We will do our best to ensure that this education innovation serves as the foundation for cultivating public officials who can provide better administration to Gyeonggi residents."