Merck Korea is offering education on semiconductor and display solutions to local high school and college students studying related subjects, as part of its ESG initiative, the company said Thursday.

According to the Korean unit of the science and technology company, the new education program comes after Kai Beckmann, member of the executive board of Merck and CEO of the Electronics, and Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung agreed on a partnership in April.

During their meeting, the two sides shared their views on expanding the investment of Merck’s electronics business, and to continue to foster talents in the field of semiconductor and display technologies.

The educational curriculum, provided to students at Korea National University of Welfare and Anjung High School, both in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, consists of four online and offline courses.

The first session was held online for 50 university students on Wednesday, and the same course will be offered to high school students in the second half of this year, Merck Korea said.

The company said it plans to add more schools to the program.

Along with the technology program, Merck Korea will run the 2021 KIDS Children’s School, jointly with Korean Information Display Association, on Aug. 5.

The KIDS Children’s School program is a free educational course on display technology and it will be offered to 150 fifth- and sixth-graders in elementary school, the company explained.

“Merck‘s Electronics business will continue to support our Korean customers based in Gyeonggi Province, which is an R&D hub for display and semiconductor technologies,” Kim Woo-kyu, Managing Director of Merck Korea, said.

“We will also make sure to fulfill our corporate social responsibility by fostering talent through this multi-faceted cooperation, just as we have offered digital education for children coming from multi-cultural families in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, to underline our values of diversity and inclusion at Merck Group,” he added.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)