Vocational School of Universitas Gadjah Mada sent up to 177 students abroad during 2014-2015 to attend summer class, cultural exchange, and international seminars. Apart from Japan, the students were sent to China, South Korea, Germany, India, Australia, Hungary, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cyprus, Turkey, etc, to join apprenticeship programme, applied research and competitions.
Vice-Director for Academic and Student Affairs of the School, Dr. Wikan Sakarinto, explained that the apprenticeship at the industry has been developed by the School for Japan and Germany. Several UGM students took apprenticeship at automotive companies in Kawasaki, Japan, and several companies in Germany for several months.
"These students have done applied research for two months in a number of polytechnics in Akashi, Kitakyushu, Ariake, etc, in Japan. This is to generate graduates who are competitive in the national and international levels," said Wikan in the Vocational School of UGM on Wednesday (10/2).
For the one-year summer class programme running in a number of cities in South Korea , the students were studying at the Daejeon University, Kangwon National University, etc. Some even continued to the undergraduate level at Kyungnam University, South Korea.
Wikan said those who had completed the undergraduate level were expected to become lecturers at UGM. Meanwhile, the student exchange with China is ongoing.
Wikan added currently they developed an applied education system based on skills and competence. The composition is 60 percent of practice and 40 percent of theories, added with softskills to create student’s excellent competence.
"One of the softskills is international leadership and communication skill that is realised in the programme that sends students abroad. To be able to win the future, graduates cannot only depend on high academic achievements, but also on excellent softskills,” he concluded.