Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education Prepares 7,586 Practical Rooms to Boost Student Competitiveness

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen) is preparing students’ skills to enter and compete in the industrial world by building 7,586 practical rooms through the School Revitalisation Programme. Director General of Secondary Education and Special Education (Dikmen Diksus) at Kemendikdasmen, Tatang Muttaqin, stated that to date, his side has constructed more than 7,000 practical rooms distributed across vocational secondary schools (SMK), special schools (SLB), learning activity studios (SKB), and community learning centres (PKBM). “One of the aspects we are strengthening, particularly for vocational education in SMK, SLB, vocational SKB, and PKBM, is ensuring adequate practical spaces. This is important, so we are building more than 7,586 practical rooms,” Tatang said during an event titled “Casual Discussion on the Real Impact of Revitalising Educational Units and Strengthening Literacy through Comfortable Library Facilities” in Jakarta on Tuesday. “With habituation and familiarity, they can enter the industry more easily. The adjustment can then be quicker,” Tatang added. He also acknowledged that the current condition of practical rooms provided by schools or Kemendikdasmen still falls far short in terms of completeness compared to the industrial ecosystem, such as factories. “Indeed, what is provided in the practical rooms at SMK, SLB, and also SKB and PKBM, is certainly far behind the real spaces in factories, but when, for example, the children are already accustomed to driving manual motorcycles or manual cars, moving to higher levels is not difficult because they already have the basics,” Tatang said.