Industry Ministry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has said that the construction of new buildings for Bogor Chemical Analyst Vocational School (SMAK Bogor) is aimed at aligning human resources (HR) with industry needs.
“Through the groundbreaking of SMAK Bogor building, we will realize vocational education as a best practice partnership that could connect the world of education and the industrial world,” he said at the groundbreaking ceremony for SMAK Bogor on Monday.
SMAK Bogor often produces HR graduates in industrial chemical analysis, he noted.
Kartasasmita said that all Indonesians, whose number has currently reached 275 million, have the same right to a proper education. Therefore, the state is providing education services that can be accessed and reached by all elements.
The key to the success of organizing vocational education and training lies in the orientation of the implementation, which focuses on fulfilling demand and not supply, he added.
For this reason, the ministry is assisting efforts to realize competent human resources to support the performance of the national industry.
“Since last year, President Joko Widodo has mandated us to make fundamental changes to the management of vocational education and training, namely by conducting a thorough management, as has been done by countries that have successfully managed their human resources,” he said.
This step is considered important since it is part of efforts by Indonesians to get out of the middle-income trap to become a high-income country, the minister added.
One of the strategies carried out by the government to achieve this has been realized through Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 68 of 2022 concerning the revitalization of vocational education and training, which has changed the pattern of supply-oriented vocational education and training to a demand-oriented one.
This is intended to help vocational education and training programs produce a workforce that is in line with industry needs and make them capable of developing students into independent entrepreneurs.
SMAK Bogor graduates have been immediately absorbed by the industry, the minister noted. The school is also currently the best among the 14,199 existing vocational schools in Indonesia.
The success of vocational education at SMAK Bogor lies in its partnership with the industry. This partnership has reduced the problem of a mismatch between supply and demand for industrial HR, he said.
In addition, SMAK Bogor’s focus on a single scientific field, that is, chemical analysis, differentiates it from other vocational education units. Therefore, the school has consistently found partners and found it easy to develop.
“We also want to multiply this success and make SMAK Bogor a living laboratory that can continue to develop, not only at the national level, but we encourage it to also take part at the global level,” Kartasasmita said.
Source: Antara News