Vocational education is a successful concept in Switzerland. Around 70 percent of young people opt for this educational pathway. In Indonesia, however, vocational training has a poor reputation compared to university education. At the same time, Indonesian society knows this needs to change.
Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Stefan Kammhuber, Head of the Institute for Communication and Intercultural Competence (icic) at the OST, a team of Swiss and Indonesian researchers is developing innovative solutions for a vocational training system in Indonesia. The question is how such a system can function in a country with over 270 million inhabitants, 17,000 islands, more than 300 ethnic groups, and 700 languages.
Exchange at workshop and conference in Indonesia
To find out where the Indonesian VET system can benefit from the Swiss system, Stefan Kammhuber and Ben Hüter, Director of the Vocational Training Center Thun (IDM) and board member of the Swiss Conference of Directors of Vocational Schools, held a workshop in Jakarta with directors and managers of Indonesian VET centers. The participants agreed that a turnaround was needed in the Indonesian education system. The attitude towards vocational training must also change: "Away from the stereotype of vocational training as a stopgap solution for (...) poorly motivated young people from poor backgrounds, towards an alternative career path for qualified specialists," said Dr. Juliana Murniati, Dean of the Department of Applied Psychology, for example.
A conference was also held with business, politics, vocational training, and science representatives. The events were well received not only by the participants but also by all the major Indonesian media.