Vocational Education And Training Supports Competent Youth In The Digital Age

Photo: Doc. Woman

JAKARTA - The low quality of the workforce who has not been able to respond to the development needs of the labor market is one of the causes of Indonesia's still lagging productivity and competitiveness. This picture is revealed from the results of the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking survey in 2021, which places Indonesia at 37th in the world out of a total of 64 countries. The data shows that Indonesia is still losing in terms of digital competitiveness when compared to several countries in Southeast Asia.

A similar picture was also revealed from research from the University of Indonesia and the International Labor Organization (ILO) related to the absorption of graduates from Vocational Training Centers (BLK) by the industrial world. It was found that the absorption of BLK graduates only reached 59.9 percent. This shows that the need for skilled, creative, innovative, adaptive, and digitally capable workforce has not been optimally met by BLK.

Therefore, Tauvik Muhamad, ILO Skills Development Project Manager, emphasized that Indonesia must immediately accelerate the improvement of youth skills. Moreover, currently, there are many instruments that have been issued by the government to support these efforts.

One of them is a regulation recently issued by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) through Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 68 of 2022 concerning Revitalization of Vocational Education and Training. In the regulation, the involvement of industry elements is really emphasized to encourage the improvement of the quality of youth competence.

"We appreciate the presence of the Presidential Regulation which involves the industry. This Presidential Regulation plays a role in establishing an agency/mechanism that can and is able to provide input for the preparation of competency standards, adjustment of the vocational curriculum and accreditation in accordance with industry needs," said Tauvik in the Sit Bareng Rosi episode " Young and Competent in the Digital Age, Has the World of Work Played a Role?” presented by the Chief Editor of Kompas TV, Rosianna Silalahi on Wednesday night, June 22.

To ensure industry involvement in the development of human capital, Tauvik reminded the need for a forum that provides opportunities for industry to be able to contribute to the development of vocational skills. This includes compiling a competency standardization program and quality vocational training and apprenticeships, especially in industrial sectors that continue to develop and have the potential to absorb workers.

"Therefore, the ILO together with the Ministry of Economic Affairs for Economic Affairs are working together to promote a sector approach to establish a Sector Skills Agency (BKS). To that end, the ILO provides technical support for the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) to be able to implement the roles of the Sector Skills Board in developing vocational skills in accordance with market demand, including efforts to establish a Sector Skills Board," he explained.

Meanwhile, the General Chair of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Arsjad Rasjid reminded that Indonesian workers must be able to adapt in this era of the industrial revolution 4.0. Currently, said Arsjad, the adoption of digitalization for Indonesian companies is only 20 percent. Meanwhile, in other countries such as Singapore, Korea and China, it has reached 40 percent.

"Therefore, in order for HR to remain able to compete in the digital era, it is necessary to add skills by reskilling or upskilling. The increase in job opportunities must also be in line with increased investment. If not anticipated, the industrial revolution can shift into a social revolution," explained Arsjad.

For that, according to Arsjad, Presidential Decree No. 68 must be able to become a common guide and all parties need to work together to formulate effective strategies to deal with problems in this field. In fact, he emphasized, if needed, junior and senior high school students could be equipped with the ability to be better prepared to face the future by involving HR providers and entrepreneurs so that the competencies provided were in line with needs.

Director of Competency Standardization and Training Programs, Directorate of Vocational Training and Productivity of the Ministry of Manpower, Muchtar Aziz explained, currently the government continues to prepare the provision of digital and flexible infrastructure and training content as an effort to face the peak of the demographic bonus in 2030 later.

He cited the visit of the Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziyah to the WIFI Burgenland Vocational Training Center in Eisenstadt, Austria as an effort to encourage industrial participation and involvement in the development of vocational training. The Ministry of Manpower plans to adapt the concept of competency development and the facilities available there in order to improve the ability of Indonesian vocational students to compete in the world of work.

In addition, he also emphasized the role of industrial apprenticeship programs that will further enhance competence and smooth the transition from the world of training and education to the world of work. However, he reminded that, not only students, educators must also take part in apprenticeship programs in order to understand industrial developments. "With qualified educators, the training participants are also competitive in meeting the standards required by the industry," he said.

Responding to the needs of the growing industry, Beny Bandanadjaja, Academic Director of Vocational Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Culture, Research and Technology. Disclosing about the “Freedom of Learning” program and certified internships. The program allows the university to send students to try the world of work for 1-2 semesters so that they can gain hands-on work experience and learn about activities in the industry.

"Link and match is the key to the success of vocational education. One of them is through synchronizing curriculum and teaching materials on campus according to industry needs," he said.

Benny also emphasized the important role of the National Competency Certification Body to provide quality assurance certification for vocational training. "The same competency standards in each ministry are also needed to make it easier for students to meet the required standards," he reminded. The role of industry is important in updating competency standards to be in line and in accordance with the changing needs of the industry in the digital era.

The discussion was closed with a reaffirmation from Arsjad as Chairman of Kadin that industry in general and Kadin in particular were ready to play an active role with the government in developing the skills system in Indonesia.