Suchergebnisse

The Indonesian government is largely concerned that there are too many graduates leaving secondary school without the skills necessary to ensure their economic welfare, and to contribute to national economic and industrial development. Furthermore, the Indonesian youth unemployment and underemployment rates are high and rising. The Indonesian community has a great number of students who, despite their qualifications, find it very difficult to find employment. Because of this, the Indonesian government decided to develop technical and vocational education and training (TVET) secondary schools, also known as SMKs, as the Indonesian government believed that the vocational nature of the TVET curriculum better enabled students to master a number of specific job-related knowledge and skills needed for employment, and therefore it would be easier for them to find employment. However, since the initiation of the Indonesian government's development plan for SMKs, there has been a prolific debate about whether the Indonesian government should have pushed funding into SMKs, and whether the development projects will succeed. There are several factors, which support the Indonesian government's decision. Firstly, the youth unemployment rate of lndonesia was very high and it was understood that SMK graduates found employment more easily than those from general secondary schools (SMAs). Secondly, the SMK enrollment rate was declining and the quality of SMK facilities, teaching staff (most notably, the uneven balance of students and teaching staff), and national accreditation system was very poor and needed improvement if graduates were to be given an improved chance for employment. Thirdly, there were not sufficient links between SMKs and industry apprenticeships. These links provide valuable work experience and relationships within the labour market. And lastly, the SMK student demographic caused great concern for the Indonesian government. There was strong gender segregation, was largely comprised of students from low-income families. As a result, the Indonesian government has started developing TVET in Indonesia. The Government has done this through various different avenues, however the two leading SMK development projects are (a) the Indonesian Vocational Education Strengthening Project (INVEST), in which the Indonesian government in partnership with the Asian Development Bank will fund US$ I l 5 million into development of SMK schools and linkage programs; and (b) Indonesia's Long-Term Development Plan 2005-2025, which apart from many other plans, aims to increase SMK enrolment to 70% in 2015. As part of these projects the Ministry of National Education has also chosen to extend SMK programs from three years to four, and to introduce Open SMKs so that students may work and study if they need to. There are countless benefits that arise from the development of SMKs in Indonesia. These include, (a) increased enrolment in SMK in number of students and percentage of SMK:SMA; (b) improved quality of SMKs, through teacher training, improved fac ilities etc; (c) stronger SMK-industry linkage programs which will give more students the opportunity to gain valuable work experience; (d) greater access by allowing students to study and work simultaneously, and lastly (e) businesses will also benefit by part-taking in SMK-apprenticeship programs. However, there are a lso several problems that have been brought to the government attention. Firstly, the development into the improvement of SMKs may not able to reduce the youth unemployment rate in Indonesia. The Indonesian government's belief that SMA graduates experience a lower rate of unemployment has since been disproved. SMK graduates now experience a similar unemployment rate to SMA graduates. Secondly, expansion of SMKs are not cost effective and will cause disadvantage to students better suited to SMAs. Thirdly, society does not hold TVET education above general education. Fourthly, the teacher-student gap is vast, and therefore is going to be difficult to resolve, and lastly, the gender stereotypes that are entrenched in society are going to be especially difficult to change. Overall, while the Government decision to develop SMKs in Indonesia is more than justified. There are various flaws in SMKs development plan that are outweighing the benefits, however with a few additional development strategies, it is likely the full success of the development to SMKs may be realised.