"Teachers should have expertise and meet the requirements," Effendy stated during the launch of a vocational education program at PT Kawasan Industri Makassar (KIMA), South Sulawesi, here on Wednesday.
The required teaching staff must be classified as productive teachers or those possessing the skills and expertise required in various programs in vocational schools.
Meanwhile, the government will improve the skills of teachers through a dual expertise program.
Vocational schools should have practical teachers instead of normative teachers to impart workplace skills to students.
"Some 15 thousand teachers have been accepted in the dual expertise program," the minister revealed.
The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) Labor Force Survey in 2018 indicated that of the 6.8 million unemployed people, 20.7 percent, or 1.4 million of them, are vocational high school graduates.
The number is viewed as being quite large, considering that SMK graduates are, in fact, prepared to be directly absorbed by the industrial world. One of the causes of the high unemployment rate is the mismatch between the quality of vocational school graduates and industrial needs.
Vocational Revitalization will be conducted, starting from improving the vocational curriculum in accordance with the future needs, including certification that refers to the Indonesian National Work Competence Standards, apprenticeship programs in the industry to enhance students` abilities and capacities, teacher training, and improving a selection system that matches the expertise and boosts the interest of prospective students in vocational studies.
The government has also undertaken a pilot project, especially for the Coffee Department, in West Java.
The pilot project, which began in the 2018 school year, involved 66 students. The output generated from this pilot project, in addition to receiving a diploma, is that each student will acquire six competency skills in three years.
Reporting by Abdul Kadir, Azis K
Editing by Rahmad Nasution
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
