Vocational education not in line industry needs
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Vocational education in Indonesia tends to take its own path without aligning itself to industrial needs. The curriculum at vocational high schools (SMKs) is mostly still focused on saturated skills such as office administration, while other skills -- which are in high demand such as construction, processing industries and electricity -- are not major priorities.
According to a study conducted by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the skills obtained by SMK graduates would no longer be useful in seven to eight years.
The study found that 60 percent were not employed in the sectors they studied for. If this is not remedied soon, the dream of making SMKs the main provider of qualified employees for the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) will be difficult to realize.
The concern was raised at a discussion titled "Seeking Strategic Vocational Education in Line with the Direction of Indonesian Economic Development", which was held by Kompas in cooperation with the Office of the Economic Coordinating Ministry and LIPI in Jakarta on Thursday .
The discussion highlighted a number of major issues at vocational schools, polytechnics and vocational training centers (BLK), which are still unable to make significant changes to provide skilled workers in line with the needs of industries.
Speakers included Rudy Salahuddin, the fourth deputy at the ministry; Makmuri Sukarno, an education researcher at LIPI; Bob Azam, the chairman of the standing committee on employment at the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin); Agus Sriyono, the director of Solo ATMI Polytechnic and Widodo Budiharto, an artificial Intelligence professor at Binus University. The discussion was chaired by Susilo Adinegoro from Alternative Education at Sanggar Akar.
Bob said good vocational education was key to improve the quality of human resources and to provide a competitive workforce. For this reason, the government and related stakeholders should be able to make some changes to enable vocational education to produce qualified workers.
He added that it should not only depend on the support of the government, but also on regional administrations. "Regional governments should instead be able to map the potential of the natural resource-based industries in their respective regions."
According to Bob, Kadin had cooperated with the Karawang administration to set up a vocational pilot project by establishing a regional vocational committee, with the involvement of employment, industry and education offices in the regency. "Sometimes, the programs initiated by the government are not in line with the needs of the regions. In Karawang, there are many manufacturing industries. But, after the survey was conducted, it was found that medical workers were in high demand. This is due to the opening of many health clinics following the launch of the Healthcare and Social Agency’s (BPJS Kesehatan) health insurance program,” Bob said.
Rudy added that it was also important for local governments to drop vocational departments at schools, which have been saturated and were no longer needed, saying that they should open new vocational programs that were needed to support the regional economy.
Local governments are also encouraged to revitalize BLKs in their regions. In fact, after the introduction of regional autonomy, many BLKs are no longer functioning. "In fact, BLKs should be at the forefront of producing qualified human resources in the region," Rudy said.
Roadmap
Makmuri said vocational schools needed to develop a learning system, which would meet industry standards and at the same time, adopt local knowledge and potential. This is important because not all jobs require the latest technology.
Agus said strong vocational education should be able to prepare graduates who have the character and expertise that were acceptable to industries. In addition, the development of vocational education should be based on the potential of natural resources, commodities or to add economic value. Thus, it should be able to strengthen the regions.
At present, vocational education is developed in accordance to the natural resources or industrial potential in regions, while also improving competency standards and the curriculum in order to meet the demand for Industry 4.0.
Meanwhile, the government has formulated a 2017 to 2025 vocation development policy roadmap as a reference that can still be improved. The roadmap focuses on six economic sectors that include agribusiness, manufacturing, tourism, health care, e-commerce and labor exports.
Makmuri said research conducted by LIPI’s Population Research Center revealed that there were a number of major departments at vocational schools that were saturated, such as those which offered classes in office administration. In fact, there are many other skills that are needed in other sectors.
Budi said vocational education should focus on the latest technology, namely automation and artificial intelligence. "The limited facilities and infrastructure can be overcome by implementing education that utilizes digital learning methods." (ELN / DNE)