Vocational schools struggle to be come more professional<\/p>\n
Vocational education tries to bring the education system in
\nline with the changing needs of industry and commerce. Vocational
\nschools are expected to yield professional, highly skilled
\nindividuals who will meet the demands of rapidly changing
\nworkplaces. Such expectations are proving difficult to achieve.
\nIn conjunction with National Education Day, which falls today,
\nThe Jakarta Post's Rita A. Widiadana exposes problems facing
\nvocational training.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Several students are busy learning how to write
\nbusiness letters using typewriters in the workshop of an
\neconomics high school in West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The atmosphere in the room reminds one of a situation at a
\nvillage district office: sounds of old typewriters, piles of
\npaper and antiquated office furniture.<\/p>\n
Besides typing, students are taught subjects ranging from
\nconventional bookkeeping, administration, English and general
\nsubjects.<\/p>\n
After graduating, the students are expected to enter the
\nworkforce. But here lies the problem.<\/p>\n
How can these students gain a place in an employment world
\nwhere most offices are equipped with high-tech machines, such as
\nthe computers, teleconferencing systems and other sophisticated
\noffice tools?<\/p>\n
To make matters worse, modern businesses no longer use
\nconventional bookkeeping methods, replacing them with more
\nappropriate and complex accounting and financial systems.<\/p>\n
This is only one illustration of a vocational school unable to
\nkeep pace with rapid technological changes; the school fails to
\nmeet the demand of the industrial world for skilled human
\nresources.<\/p>\n
Private technical high school Bunda Kandung is lucky to have
\nwell-equipped training centers and workshops with high-tech
\nmachines, a chemistry laboratory, computer centers, a well-
\nmanaged library and other facilities.<\/p>\n
School teacher Adam Maik said his students are taught academic
\nand practical work in order to adjust them to the realities of
\nthe employment market.<\/p>\n
Students are required to follow apprenticeship programs in
\nrelated industries. "We hope our graduates are ready to fit into
\ntheir related work field," Adam said.<\/p>\n
There are thousands of vocational schools focusing on various
\nsubject matters including technical schools, economics,
\nhousekeeping, health, food and nutrition, agriculture, textile
\nand designs, craftsmen, hotel and tourism and aviation.<\/p>\n
In greater Jakarta alone, there are 340 economics schools, 110
\ntechnical schools and 25 tourism and hotel schools. Each school
\nhas between 100 and 1,000 students.<\/p>\n
Ideally, vocational school graduates would annually provide
\nthousands of new workers to their related industry. The fact is,
\nmost of them can not meet real world working requirements.<\/p>\n
Noted educator Father J. Drost said at a recent seminar that
\nvocational schools play very important roles in the education and
\nindustrial sector, providing they are managed professionally.<\/p>\n
Statistics show only 1.5 percent of high school graduates are
\nable to continue their studies at higher learning institutions.
\nIn universities, institutes, and other high-level education
\ninstitutions, the number of dropouts has reached an alarming 80
\npercent.<\/p>\n
"Ideally, vocational schools accommodate students who are not
\nable to continue studies at higher levels and produce a skillful
\nworkforce," he said.<\/p>\n
There are some crucial problems facing vocational education:
\ninflexible and inapplicable curriculums, high-cost operations and
\nthe wide gap between schools and industry.<\/p>\n
A closer relation of schools with industry is preserved in the
\nl994 National Curriculum, which requires the collaboration
\nbetween local businesses and all vocational schools.<\/p>\n
Then Minister of Education and Culture Fuad Hassan began a
\ncampaign to establish a strong relation between the business
\ncommunity and schools. His successor, Wardiman Djojonegoro,
\ncontinued to popularize the "link and match" slogan.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Arts and Design Department of the National
\nVocational School Council Harry Darsono, reiterated that all
\nslogans and efforts must be continually revised and followed up.<\/p>\n
"It is not enough to only produce rhetoric. We need prompt
\naction to improve the quality of vocational education in the
\ncountry."<\/p>\n
Curriculums must be reformed and training systems remodeled to
\nfit new situations.<\/p>\n
To acquire the skills needed for working with the new
\ntechnology, training and retraining throughout working life is
\nnow held to be essential for everybody.<\/p>\n
Vocational schools should also focus on improving overall
\nskills, including negotiation, coping skills, decision-making,
\ncritical thinking, interrelationships and communication.<\/p>\n
Work experience (for both teachers and students) was expanded
\nalong with the schools' links with industry. Vocational know-how
\nis encouraged in order that students may start their own
\nbusinesses.<\/p>\n
Harry said the government must be adaptive and responsive to
\nthe rapid changes in society and the world of work.<\/p>\n
"There are many businessmen eager to lend support to help
\nthese students gain more fulfilling work experience, but the
\ngovernment should also work to make that happen," he said.<\/p>\n
People must change their perceptions toward vocational
\nschools. "People feel less prestigious if they enroll their kids
\nat these schools because they cannot gain university diplomas,"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
It is their choice to have children who are unemployed
\nuniversity graduates or young adults who receive vocational
\ntraining and go on to obtain a fulfilling job and a promising
\ncareer.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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