What is a Private Certificate?
A private certificate is a license that is issued by a private institution, not a governmental institution. So far, as of September 2016, 220,000 private certificates are enrolled in the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education & Training (KRIVET).

The corporate recruitment of the second half of this year has just begun. Various companies hold job fairs, and HUFS held a Global Job Fair from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1. People in their twenties are showing their concern over getting a job. Many job seekers are trying to make their application as long as they can to qualify themselves. Some of them obtain private certificates that can show that they are different from others, grasping at straws. However, there are several problems in their institutional aspect, especially in the registration process and issuance process. The Argus analyzed the causes and the solutions of the private certificate problems.

What are the problems?

1) Similar private certificates cause confusion

There are many private certificates that have similar names so their methods of education vary. Many students express their discomfort due to confusing names. For example, when it comes to personnel- related certificates, there are three certificates with the same name “Human Resource Managing Expert” and other 12 similar licenses. Also in the case of the yoga, as of August, there are 341 similar certificates. The figure is three times higher than that of 2011, when there were 101 certificates. This figure also implies that similar certificates are still being registered. Many experts say that through this growth, the yoga market developed a lot to such an extent that the number of instructors now reaches about 50,000, but this growth is inducing people’s confusion.

Lee Ji-yeong, Journalism and Media Studies ‘15, said, “I learned pole dancing as a hobby and found it interesting, so I researched some information to get a relevant certificate. However, I really got confused because there were similar certificates like ‘Practical Pole Dance,’ ‘Pole Dance Fitness Instructor,’ and ‘Pole Dance Teacher.’ There were also three certificates with the same title.”

2) Public certificate, as a means of  selling

A certificate is made to prove one’s ability by cultivating professional skills with sufficient education and practice. However, there are many cases in which the certificates lose their meaning and are being used to make a profit. Many institutes are issuing private certificates by receiving a large amount of money without sufficient education or by giving students only online lectures that also need field practice. According to the research conducted in 2011 by the Ministry of Education, among 667 subjects the tuition of 76 subjects was 1-2 million won, and that of 55 subjects was above 2 million won. For instance, people can easily get personnel-related certificates only by listening to online lectures for 15 weeks.

Lee Geon-wu, an Institutional Improvement Officer of Korea Certified Public Labor Attorneys’ Association (KCPLAA), said, “Most of the private certificates which are enrolled in government departments are issued through short-term education. Also, I have seen many cases in which students can get a certificate only by paying a large amount of money. Making a certificate for the purpose of commerce is a fatal loophole of private certificates.”

3) Deceptive advertisements for private certificates

Nowadays, a lot of deceptive advertising that causes confusion is targeting those in their twenties who are concerned with getting a job, so there are many victims crying out about their damages due to the fraud.

For instance, there are many deceptive advertisements for private certificates which use the phrase “state enrolled” to make people think it is a “state certified” license.
It is no wonder that there are many people who do not really know whether their certificate is private or state certified.

Korean Consumer Agency (KCA) surveyed 300 people above twenty who have at least one private certificate. KCA asked them if they know what type of certificate they have. Twenty-one percent replied that they knew exactly what type it was and 16.8 percent replied that they did not know. Sixty-one percent, about 200 people replied that they knew it was nationally certified.

Also, in many websites there are many advertisements that entice job seekers with the phrase “essential for application,” appealing to a sense of urgency by using stimulating phrases such as “essential.” KCA reported that among damage received from 2010 to 2015, 24.9 percent were caused by deceptive advertisements.

What has caused these problems?

1) Certificates courses in which anyone can enroll

Currently, enrollment of private certification is being done by a registration system, not a permission system. The government chose a registration system to diversify private certificates.

According to the Fundamental Act of Qualification, if the certificate does not violate prohibition criteria, anyone can register for a private qualification. The registration procedure is as follows. First, you submit the related documents and make a manual. Then, determine the competent authority and wait for the approval. That is all.

On the other hand, the permission system requires a screening process to ensure that it coincides with the pre-set criteria. However, since it is registration system right now, certificates with similar names can be registered imprudently.

2) Issuing and educating at the same institution

There are many institutions that not only issue the certificate but also teach the content. However, there are few tools to verify the organization that administers the qualifying examination, so it is impossible to know whether the education and certificate issuance are being done through the right process. That is, the clarity of qualification examination is being destroyed.

Although there are a center, KRIVET, and framework act of qualification that are in charge of private certificate registration, there is no law to separate the issuing organization and educational institution. A worker at KRIVET said, “According to the Hakwon law, all individuals or groups that have a business license can educate on the content of a private license, so it is hard to restrict. The lack of a law can cause shady business practices.”

3) Insufficient management of deceiving advertisements cause confusion

After the qualification is registered, the inspection on whether the information is properly given needs to be followed. However, the two responsible organizations, KRIVET and the competent ministries, are not doing their jobs properly.

According to the research about the current private certification situation, the monitoring of private certificate advertisements is conducted by deputing it to the Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations for two to three months annually, although it needs to be done regularly.

Also, according to Yeom Dong-yul, a member of the national assembly, among 34 competent ministries, only 14 ministries have looked into the situation.

What can be done to solve the problems?

1) Changing it to a permission system and strengthening the procedure

In order to prevent confusion derived by the similar certificates, the system needs to be changed to a permission system that can verify the public confidence of licenses. Evaluating procedures can prevent indiscriminate registration of similar licenses. Also, by arranging qualified people and professional departments is needed for the permission administration to be done systematically. A worker at KRIVET said, “To prevent registration of similar licenses, a systematic procedure that can allow registration only if sufficient material and human resources are prepared is necessary.”

2) Separating issuing organizations and education organizations

To prevent certification trading and to make the licenses more professional and increase public confidence, issuing and teaching needs to be done by different parties. Separating the functions can reduce illegal and expensive dealings. Therefore, a law that can put restrictions on educational institutions needs to be legislated for a transparent issuing process.

The KRIVET worker said, “The reason why many people have distrust towards private certificates is because they believe anyone can get one. By dividing issuing and teaching to different institutions, the process becomes transparent so that the distrust will disappear.”

3) Establishing a monitoring department and its workers

The government should set up a department only for monitoring to minimize the relevant damage rather than deputing it to another institute. Also, the competent ministries should do a thorough checking to prevent deceptive advertisements.
Officer Lee at KCPLAA said, “In order for the monitoring to be well done, people who are professional in monitoring should do it for better improvement.”

Private certificates are positively necessary to verify abilities that cannot be verified through state registered certificates. However, lack of management systems causes imprudent registration such that the certificates became a means to deceive consumers.
In order for certificates to have value, there should be a supplementation of systems and expansion of professionals. These transitions will reduce the victims and at last make private certificates translate to real qualifications.

Reporter of National Section