Provincial Government: Provision of Dormitories as Solution for Education in West Sumatra's Outermost Islands
Padang (ANTARA) - The West Sumatra Provincial Government (Pemprov Sumbar) states that providing dormitories can be one of the solutions to address educational challenges in the Mentawai Islands Regency, Indonesia’s westernmost outermost island region.
“If we talk about access, then one of the keys is providing dormitories. Without dormitories, our children will have difficulty reaching schools,” said the Provincial Secretary of West Sumatra, Arry Yuswandi, during his working visit to the Mentawai Islands Regency on Friday.
According to Arry, providing dormitories for students is a necessity given the territorial composition of the Mentawai Islands Regency, which consists of several main islands.
This condition also contributes to the limited reach of educational services in the area known as the Land of Sikerei. Currently, the average number of vocational high school (SMK) students in the region ranges from 40 to 50 per batch.
“This indicates that interest and access to vocational education here are not yet optimal. We need to find solutions together,” he emphasised.
On that occasion, Arry stressed that educational issues do not stop at the number of students but also concern the quality of graduates. Currently, in vocational schools, there is still a gap between the competencies of graduates and the needs of the business world and industry.
The provincial government, he said, is also encouraging the strengthening of links and matches between SMKs and the business world, as well as opening wider job opportunities, including abroad.
Mastery of skills, certification, and foreign language proficiency, he added, can be the key to making SMK graduates competitive and aligned with business needs.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Mentawai Islands Regency Education Office, Jop, affirmed the local government’s commitment to strengthening support for SMK development, particularly in meeting students’ basic needs.
“Dormitories are the main support for the continuity of their education. This must be a shared concern, and we will follow it up in future planning,” he said.