[Kabar-indonesia] More job-minded Indonesian students go to vocational schools [+Chinese model]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: 2 JP reports: Lessons learned from China's vocational school 
success story; and Equivalency test too hard for many students 

The Jakarta Post
Tuesday, October 3, 2006

More job-minded students go to vocational schools 

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

When 16-year-old Rizki Saputra was a little boy, he wanted to be a doctor. 
But as the son of a low-ranking employee of an insurance firm in Bogor, West 
Java, his options were limited. 

His father told him to go to State Vocational School No. 1 in Bogor so that 
he graduated quickly and his two younger brothers had the chance to go to 
school. 

He did not like the idea at first, but warmed to it once he realized he could 
stay in school and make money. 

By the 11th grade, the machinery student had the skills to repair neighbors' 
electronic equipment, such as radios, televisions and fans. He was making up 
to Rp 500,000 (US$54.3) a month. 

"It's not so good knowing that I'll probably never be a doctor. But it's 
pretty cool earning your own money. None of my high school friends do," he said. 

Vocational schools are often viewed as the obvious choice for students who 
are not academically minded as they primarily teach job-specific skills. 

Some parents favor them because they prepare their children for entering the 
workforce directly. 

The Central Bureau of Statistics reported last year that about 23 percent of 
the nation's 9.1 million unemployed people were high school graduates, while 
vocational school graduates only comprised about 9 percent. 

The number of vocational students in Indonesia has continued to rise in the 
past three years. By the end of 2005, 2.1 million students attended 6,000 trade 
schools. 

"Parents are becoming more realistic about how they spend their money because 
they realize that a university education does not necessarily mean a job," 
Joko Sutrisno, the Education Ministry's director of vocational school programs, 
told The Jakarta Post recently. 

The most popular courses at trade schools are accounting, manufacturing and 
information technology because the labor market easily absorbs the graduates. 

Joko said parents were also more aware that vocational schools were not a 
dead-end education. Graduates can always go to university later. 

Galih Purba Lingga, 26, has never given up on his dream of going to college, 
though he attended State Vocational School No. 2 in Bandung, majoring in 
manufacturing, 10 years ago. 

He worked as a supervisor in a number of factories in Bandung before finally 
entering an undergraduate program at Akhmad Yani University in the same city. 

This year, he graduate cum laude from the university's School of Business. 

"I have no regrets about waiting to get a degree. I can also say that I paid 
my own way through college," Galih said. 

He is currently applying for managerial positions in multinational companies. 

"I am trying my luck. If it doesn't work out, I will establish my own 
business," he said. Possible options are running a catering business with his mother 
or setting up a repair shop. 

He said his future was not determined by the schools he attended. 

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The Jakarta Post
Tuesday, October 3, 2006

Lessons learned from China's vocational school success story 

A huge, under utilized labor forced is a problem faced by Asian economic 
giant China, too, where the economy is dependent on the labor intensive 
manufacturing sector.

To overcome the problem, the government has been turning to vocational 
training as a means of prolonging its economic ascendancy and quelling unrest. 

The Chinese government started to increase the growth of vocational schools 
in 1980, and has since set up more than 40,000 vocational schools and 
employment centers nationwide. 

The government designated the schools' curriculums around several degree and 
certification levels, some of which are equivalent to qualifications earned at 
universities. 

The policy encourages young Chinese to attend vocational schools and has 
helped keep the unemployment rate at 4.2 percent of the labor force until the 
first semester of this year, with a total of 8.3 million people unemployed. 

Vocational schools have become even more popular recently with a rise in the 
belief that a Chinese university degree is often a ticket to nowhere. 

The National Development and Reform Commission reports that at least 60 
percent of Chinese university graduates can't find work. In contrast, the 
employment rate for graduates of secondary vocational schools remains high. 

According to the Chinese Central Board of Statistics, the employment rate has 
stayed at 95 percent on average for the past five years. The average salary 
of graduates of secondary vocational schools is higher than college graduates 
this year in the cities of Harbin, Hangzhou and Chengdu 

Research findings recently published by the Washington Post, however, said 
that the vocational schools' certification system was producing "engineers" that 
had skill levels of technicians. 

The U.S.-based McKinsey Global Institute report cast doubt on the quality of 
Chinese engineering graduate because some of them were vocational students who 
held equivalency certificates of associate degrees. 

The study concluded that "fewer than 10 percent of Chinese job candidates, on 
average, would be suitable for work (in a foreign multinational company) in 
the nine occupations we studied." 

Nevertheless, no one can deny that China has grown as one of the powerful 
economies in the world through its competitiveness and labor productivity. -- JP 

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The Jakarta Post
Tuesday, October 3, 2006

Equivalency test too hard for many students 

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

For the last two months, Melati Putri, 18, has been all smiles. After the 
painful failure in the recent national examination, she was finally admitted in 
the psychology undergraduate program at Atmajaya University, Jakarta.

"All I have to do is wait for the result of the equivalency test so that I 
can be just like all the other students here," she told The Jakarta Post. 

Melati is one of thousands of 12th graders who had failed the exam and 
studied for the equivalency test for two months. She has to pass the test so that 
the university can upgrade her status from temporary to permanent student. 

She does not know if she has passed yet. About 10 to 30 percent of the 
students who took it failed. 

The Education Ministry reported Monday that about 23 percent of about 16,600 
high schools students majoring in science failed the test, whereas about 20 
percent of 55,200 majoring in social studies failed. 

Meanwhile, only 5 percent of 136,800 junior high school students passed the 
tests. 

The Education Ministry's head of evaluation, Burhanudin Tola, however, still 
considers the results normal. "The tests show that when there is a will there 
is a way. Those who studied hard were able to pass the test while those who 
didn't, continue to fail," he said. Those who failed could either take the next 
equivalency test or repeat their final year at their regular schools. 

He also asked all students who took the tests to wait for the results since 
they might be delayed due to technical problems. The ministry has not even 
received the results from Papua and West Irian provinces. 

Nonformal schooling program director Ella Yulaelawati said that those 
students who failed the tests shouldn't worry too much since they could either take 
another equivalency test or repeat their final year. 

"It is common for out of school students to take the equivalency tests more 
than once," she said. 

The equivalency test is actually intended for mature-age students or street 
children who cannot attend regular schools who would otherwise have no hope of 
attending college or university. 

Things, of course, are different for regular school students like Melati, who 
has always had the dream of attending university and being among her peers. 
That is why passing either the equivalency tests or national exam as soon as 
possible is a must. 

"I can't imagine what would happen to me if I failed the test," she said. 

One thing is for sure, she would have to quit college if she fails this time. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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