JAKARTA - Strengthening vocational higher education is considered to be Indonesia's strategic key in preparing skilled human resources who are able to penetrate the global labor market competition. The government emphasizes that polytechnics have a central role in producing professional labor based on applied expertise, not just an alternative to academic higher education.
The commitment was emphasized by the Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Brian Yuliarto, when opening the National Workshop entitled "Opportunities and Challenges for Indonesian Skilled Labor to Work Abroad: Preparedness, Competency Standards, Protection and Cross-Sectoral Collaboration Strategies" at the State Polytechnic of Jakarta (PNJ), Depok, West Java, Saturday, December 20, 2025.
According to Brian, polytechnics are strategic institutions that produce skilled labor that is ready to compete with labor from large countries such as India and China. Therefore, the paradigm that places vocational education as a second choice must be ended.
"Vocational schools are institutions that produce skilled workers who are ready to enter the global competition. Our challenge is to ensure that the skills gap with international standards can be closed," he said in a statement in Jakarta, Sunday.
Brian emphasized that the direction of the policy to strengthen vocations focuses on improving the quality of education and the competence of graduates so that they are in line with the human resources of developed countries. Higher education, especially vocations, is required to produce graduates who are competent, professional, and have the confidence to work at an international level.
He added that these qualities must be proven through learning based on best practices, mastery of language and cross-cultural communication, credible certification of competence, and strengthening networking with the industry and related stakeholders.
"All of these steps are aimed at ensuring that vocational higher education graduates are mature and sustainable," said Brian.
Furthermore, Brian emphasized the government's full support for vocational education, including adjustments to regulations to be in line with the needs of the global labor market. Competency certification, which is a fundamental requirement in international labor mobility, will be optimized so that it can be carried out domestically.
"We send the best sons and daughters of the nation to various countries to gain experience and added value. When the national strategic industry develops, we call them back. This is the concept of brain circulation that vocational higher education must prepare," he explained.
In line with this, the Chairman of the Forum of State Polytechnic Directors across Indonesia (FDPNI), Ahyar M. Dyah, stated that state polytechnics have established cooperation with a number of countries in fulfilling skilled labor.
He emphasized that FDPNI is ready to fully support the efforts to prepare vocational graduates to be able to penetrate the global labor market while overseeing the sustainability of the program as part of the transformation of vocational higher education in Indonesia.
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