Our HollandDoor newsletters have brought you regular updates on programs that aim to strengthen TVET education in Indonesia. Thanks to our strong partnerships with valuable organizations in Indonesia, such as VEDCA, IPB and the State University of Malang, we were able to continue our program, despite the travel restrictions caused by COVID-19.
In the past two months, the training program picked up again for many participants (teachers and principals) from selected vocational schools. In February, more than 85 teachers from 13 sekolah menengah kejuruans SMK's (vocational upper-secondary schools) from all over Indonesia followed a six-day training program on horticulture, poultry and food processing at the Vocational Education Development Center for Agriculture (VEDCA) in Cianjur. Each program combined practical training in the field, online discussions with Dutch experts, workshops and action plans on how to revitalize their teaching programs.
Teachers of poultry science, for example, added entrepreneurship and business to their curricula and received follow-up training on how to make mash chicken feed, processing, and operating closed houses. Interested in the opening? See: https://youtu.be/4qNgzNhkOwQ
Earlier this year, 10 principals followed a program at IPB University in Bogor and 3 principals followed a program in Jember. It gave them the opportunity to learn more about:
- how to stimulate their team with teaching innovations and how to meet market needs;
- how to embed entrepreneurship in their teaching system (mindset development); and
- how to create partnerships with a number of agricultural industries (MOU signed including agreed joint actions and planning).
To increase employment opportunities for students and to strengthen sector development, the Ministry of Education in Indonesia has been giving vocational schools more leeway to adapt their curricula to the needs of the labor market in their region. On the other hand, partnerships with organizations are a condition that schools must meet.
Are you an educational policymaker, principal, dean, or teacher and are you interested in learning how your educational programs can better meet the needs and developments of the labor market? Contact Engelie Beenen for further information and to find out how we support the revitalization of (vocational) education in your region or at your school(s).
