TVET Revitalisation at Secondary Vocational Schools (SMKs)

Background

The high unemployment rate, particularly of educated youths, is a pressing concern for Indonesia. With a focus on imparting education that leads to jobs, the Indonesian Government is strategically prioritising technical and vocational education and training (TVET). It aims to not just reduce the high unemployment rates among the educated youth, but also ensure that the current Indonesian workforce possesses the skills required to compete in the 21st Century.

In this view the Government of Indonesia has embarked upon revitalising TVET at secondary vocational schools or Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMKs) to increase the employability and competitiveness of Indonesian labour force both nationally and internationally especially in the face of ASEAN regional integration.

TVET Revitalisation of SMK is a key government reform and strategy under the Presidential Instruction No. 9 in the year of 2016 for Quality Improvement and Human Resource Competitiveness of Indonesian Human Resources (Instruksi Presiden Nomor 9 Tahun 2016 Tentang Revitalisasi SMK dalam rangka Peningkatan Kualitasdan Daya Saing Sumber Daya Manusia Indonesia)’. This instruction to several ministries such as the Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC), the Ministry of Research Technology and Higher Education (MoRTHE), the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration (MoMT), the Ministry of Industry (MoI), and Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA) was given by the President as a strategy for addressing TVET challenges both at secondary and post-secondary levels following employers’ complaints about the quality of TVET graduates in Indonesia.

The expected resultant improvement of vocational education is aimed at enabling learners to be more competitive in the global labour markets.

Objectives

Revitalisation of TVET has the following objectives:

• To refine and harmonise TVET (SMK) curricula with competences in accordance with the needs of graduates (link and match) and industries;
• To increase the number and competence for educators and educational power in SMK;
• To improve cooperation with ministries/agencies, local governments, and the business/industry; and
• To increase access, certification and accreditation of SMK graduates.

Implementation

In ensuring that vocational education is responsive to the labour market needs, the MoEC is directing secondary vocational schools (SMKs) to focus on six priority areas: tourism, maritime programs, food security, creative industries, energy, and construction.

With this strategy, Indonesia aims to equip its human resources with 21^st Century Skills to respond to rapid technological advancements, changes in business processes, as well as to changes in work structures in workplaces, which demand soft and transferrable skills. These skills include:

1. Skills related to thinking (e.g. creativity and innovation, critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, learning to learn/metacognitive);
2. Work-related skills (e.g. communication and cooperation);
3. Skills that can be used as instruments of action (collection of information/data, use of information technology and media devices); and
4. Skills related to the ability to function well within personal and community life (integrity, discipline, responsibility, adaptability, leadership, nationalism and other insights).

TVET strategies in Indonesia can be summarised under the revitalisation strategy outlined in the report of the ‘Presidential Instruction Number 9 Year 2016 on Revitalising TVET (SMK) in the framework of Improving the Quality and Competitiveness of Indonesian Human Resources’. These are:

1. Revitalisation of vocational schools that a) supports the development of national priorities such as food security, energy security, business and tourism development, maritime development - especially in underdeveloped areas and border areas, and b) accelerates the development of Papua and West Papua;
2. Development of SMK model that is driven by cooperation with business/industry;
3. Development of skills based on the projected needs of the workforce;
4. Completion of curriculum in preparing competency of vocational education skills based on SKKNI (Indonesian National Work Competency Standard), KKNI and other relevant standards;
5. Improvement of the quality of learning and assessment of learning outcomes, with the application of competency certification for learners;
6. Improvement of quality assessment of education through accreditation;
7. Improvement of the quality of the implementation of entrepreneurship and work skills of SMK through “Teaching Factory” (Industry-like school environment for students’ work-based learning);
8. Improvement of the quality of facilities and infrastructure of learning in the classroom and workshop in SMK; and
9. Fulfillment of availability, quality, competence and professionalism of vocational education personnel through Teacher Certification, pre - & in-service programmes for TVET teachers, and apprenticeship programmes.

Useful Links

Presidential Instruction Number 9 Year 2016 on Revitalising TVET Schools (SMK) in the framework of Improving the Quality and Competitiveness of Indonesian Human Resources (Instruksi Presiden Nomor 9 Tahun 2016 Tentang Revitalisasi SMK dalam rangka Peningkatan Kualitasdan Daya Saing Sumber Daya Manusia Indonesia)

Revitalisation of Vocational Education, 2016 (Revitalisasi Pendidikan Vokasi) - In Bahasa

The Role of Higher Education in Vocational School Revitalization Program 2017-2019 in Indonesia - Dr. Bruri Triyono, 2017