Korea helps RI vocational schools

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post/Bangkok

The Indonesian government is working with South Korea and several other countries to provide training centers that will link vocational students to industries, an official said.

The Ministry of National Education's Director of Technical and Vocational Education Gatot Hari Priowirjanto told The Jakarta Post that South Korea had agreed to establish the centers for automotive, IT, manufacturing and tourism.

A Thai vocational university has also agreed to an exchange of students and lecturers with Indonesia, he said.

Gatot was in Bangkok to take part in a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) meeting on vocational education, where he met Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education's director general Park Man-gon of South Korea.

"Dr. Park agreed to facilitate cooperation between Indonesia and South Korea, including the provision of a joint training institution with South Korean industry," Gatot said on Wednesday.

"This will allow our vocational students to gain work experience at South Korean factories as well as more knowledge of Korean culture."

An initial agreement has also been struck with the Korean University of Technology on an exchange of lecturers, Gatot added.

He said that a close link with industries was the only way to ensure a strong vocational education system.

"Sometimes there are simply not enough teachers for certain kinds of study, such as animation and broadcasting. In such cases, we'll ask professional animators or broadcasters to provide the modules for students and teach them," he said.

A teacher's presence is not necessary, as a class could be conducted through video conferencing via satellite, according to Gatot.

"Currently we lease 8 megahertz of bandwidth, using only one- quarter of a Telkom satellite's transponder to transmit our distance learning materials.

"The materials are not only on vocational skills but also on subjects such as mathematics and English, which are also taught at schools and in the surrounding community," said Gatot.

Indonesia has about 5,800 vocational high schools with more than 100 subjects.

The ministry has introduced long-distance learning through 100 vocational schools in five regencies and mayoralties. The number of towns will be increased to 25 by the end of this month and to 40 by the end of this year, Gatot said.

Minister of National Education Bambang Sudibyo is scheduled to officially launch satellite-based distance learning in Tahuna, Sangihe Talaud Island in North Sulawesi, at the end of this month.

The project costs about Rp 260 billion (US$26.8 million), almost a quarter of the amount required to fund a pure satellite- based system, in which all schools get a satellite dish, a receiver and a TV.

To save money, the ministry uses relay antennas to transmit materials from designated schools up to a radius of 25 kilometers.

"This way students from other schools and residents around the designated schools can also benefit from our distance learning program. All they have to do is tune into the distance learning channels."

The ministry plans to increase the bandwidth to four transponders with a capacity of 72 megahertz of which 24 megahertz will be used for the distance learning channels and the remainder for Internet connection.