Data from Statistics Centre Agency states that in August 2014 as much as 9.5% percent of unemployment in Indonesia consist of university alumni. This is due to the discordance between human resource competence and industry demand.
“It often happens that companies have wrongly targeted human resource. If they are looking for ready-for-work staff, they should look for diploma graduates who have already practised many times in college,” said Head of Vocational Programme of University of Indonesia, Prof. Sigit Pranowo Hadiwardoyo, in a press conference during the Forum for Vocational Higher Learning in Indonesia (FPTVI), on Monday (9/5) in Wisma Joglo hotel, Yogyakarta.
Sigit, FPTVI chairman, regretted that in Indonesia, people have not well understood vocational education. In other countries, Germany, France, Japan, Korea and Thailand, vocational education has become the backbone to build a working system in the global era. Those countries have successfully built their economies using skills-based programme through vocational education that produce experts in various areas.
“In developed countries, there is communication between higher learning and industry, so we need to have similar understanding on vocational education, too. Socialisation to the industry is also required,” he said.
Cooperation between the industry and vocational education, according to Deputy Director of Diploma Programme of Bogor Agricultural Institute, Dr. D. Iwan Riswandi, SE., MSi., is planned to be run in five areas: program and curriculum, lecturers and instructors, facilities and infrastructure, scholarship and certification.
On competence of graduates, Deputy Director of UGM Vocational School, Wikan Sakarinto, S.T., M.Sc., Ph.D., said that UGM has set up certain graduating criteria to ensure qualified graduates.
“A prerequisire for graduating from UGM Vocational School is passing all curriculums, also they have to have competence certificates. So, all study programmes in the School are encouraged to equip their graduates with certificates,” he concluded.