Jakarta Province managed to come out as overall winner of the Vocational High School National Applied Science Olympiad (OSTN) 2011 which took place at UGM, 25-28 October. The champion was announced on the closing event of OSTN, Friday night (28/10) at UGM UC. Therefore, Jakarta province is entitled to OSTN trophy previously held by the Province of Central Java.
Senior Vice Rector for Education, Research, and Community Service, Prof. Dr. Retno Sunarminingsih, M.Sc., Apt., congratulates the winners. On the occasion, the WRS P3M openly says that Universitas Gadjah Mada opened the door widely for the winners to continue their studies at UGM. "UGM is always open to champions, for both diploma and degree programs. For those who have not won yet, don’t be discouraged, the most important thing is participating (on the OSTN) which becomes an important experience," she said.
Retno added that one of the purposes of OSTN is to looking for talents that not only have the academic capability but also the mastery of applied technology. Moreover, the participants are also taught how to compete in a healthy way by emphasizing sportsmanship. "The most important thing is the fighting spirit, honesty and sportsmanship," she said.
For similar event in the future, Retno hoped vocational high school teachers could do a better coaching. In addition, the selection of participants’ quality will also increase. "This event can still continue and is able to develop better quality in terms of participants’ selection, materials and questions preparation, the assessment process and the event execution," she said.
Director General of Secondary Education Ministry of National Education, Hamid Muhammad, welcomed the offer from Universitas Gadjah Mada to accept potential students from the Vocational High School Olympiad. Although graduates of vocational high schools are prepared to work, but there is the possibility to proceed to higher education. "If UGM and other universities can invite these champions, UGM can be pioneering it," he said.
On the occasion, Hamid also promised a bonus in the form of block grants for vocational high school who managed to get gold medals in OSTN 2011. Even the funds will be disbursed as soon as possible to help vocational high school students coaching to participate in the next OSTN Olympiad. "There is a block grant provided to schools as a form of award for schools that have developed students to become the best. For schools that received the gold medal, the funds will be distributed to the schools directly in November," he said.
Here are the winners of OSTN 2011. Category of technology mathematics contest: first winner is SMKN 2 Pati of Central Java, second place winner is SMK Analis Kimia Bogor, Third place is SMKN (State Vocational High School) 26 Jakarta. Category of Non-Tech Maths Competitions: first winner is SMKN 8 Jakarta, second place winner is SMKN 1 Pati, third place winner is SMKN 1 Kedaung of West Java. Category of Applied Physics Competition; First winner is SMKN 1 Jenangan Ponorogo, Second Place Winner is SMKN 4 Jakarta and third place winner SMKN 7 Bandung.
Furthermore, for the Applied Chemistry Competition; the first winner is SMKN 13 Bandung, Second place winner is SMK Kimia Analis Makassar; third winner is SMKN 1 Temanggung. Meanwhile, category of Applied Biology Competition; the first winner is Chandra Naya Of Jakarta province, second place winner is SMKN 1 Purwosari of East Java, third place winner is SMKN 1 Temanggung.