Students need exposure to working world

JAKARTA (JP): The majority of vocational schools in Indonesia and their students are ignorant of the working world, resulting in poor matches of graduates and job requirements, Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro says.

"The quality of vocational and technical schools is very uneven throughout the whole system, with some quite poorly prepared for their tasks," Wardiman said in a seminar discussing the link and match concept between the educational world and industry.

"Frequently, they have little idea of what status their students will achieve after graduation," he said in his keynote address, held with the sponsorship of the Australian government.

Australian Minister for Employment, Education and Training Simon Crean also addressed the opening of the two-day seminar which is being attended by around 200 local and foreign participants.

Indonesia is currently in the process of revamping many state- owned vocational and technical high schools so that they can supply graduates that match the requirements of industry.

Many students now enroll in vocational schools with little idea of what kind of job they will seek after graduation, Wardiman said.

A recent study sponsored by the Asian Development Bank which traced the status of over 8,000 vocational school graduates showed that 15 percent found employment in private companies, nine percent were self-employed, 14 percent pursued higher education and 12 percent worked for the government. The rest, or over 50 percent, went undetected.

"This indicates clearly that vocational schools have very limited linkage with the working world," he said.

"Vocational schools must identify what kind of graduates they should produce in order to meet the labor market's requirements," he said, citing that the link and match policy was aimed at addressing this problem.

In line with the link and match policy, the government is also launching the dual system concept which would allow students of vocational schools to take time off from their studies to work in industries and therefore gain some valuable working experience.

The government has been active in enlisting private and state companies to provide apprenticeship programs for students of vocational schools.

Crean related the Australian experience in implementing the link and match concept.

He noted that Australia is reforming its educational system to support its export-oriented economic policy.

"Central to our economic efficiency is a commitment to more productive capital investment for employment generating industries, and growth in the value of our exports," Crean said. "We are therefore expanding and accelerating reforms in our education and training system to respond to industry concerns about the relevance and standards of training," he said.

The vocational education system in Australia was undergoing wide reform to create a system which offered a variety of school degrees in line with the people's needs, he said.

He told reporters later that Australia was ready to share its experience with Indonesia to develop the link and match education system.

The two countries have since long cooperated in the educational field with Australia ready to provide financial and staff assistance to launch the link and match education program and to train Indonesian staff in Australia, he said. (rms)