Vocational Schools and the Unemployment Rate in Indonesia: What Can Be Learned From Japan

RURI ASTUTI, Prof. Makoto KOJIMA, Prof. Yorikatsu YOSHIDA

2019 | Tesis | Magister Ekonomika Pembangunan

Graduates from vocational schools (SMKs) are expected to be able and ready to work as experts in their field from day one of employment. However, in reality the absorption rate of graduates in the work place is still far from the expected level despite the Indonesian government efforts to strengthen SMKs over the last 20 years. In addition to employment availability that is not yet in line with the number of those graduates, the quality factor (match between what is needed and what has been gained) by the graduates is still the main cause of the many graduates not being promptly employed. Obviously, a stronger connection between the education sector and industry sectors and stakeholders at the local community level is needed. The goal of education is to empower people, both in terms of knowledge and settlement of contextual problems they face daily. Using the data from Statistics Indonesia and Ministry of Education and Culture (MOEC) of 34 provinces in Indonesia for the year 2017, this empirical study presents the cross-section regression by Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method. The research on national data using several education variables was used in order to check the relationship between vocational school coursework and the unemployment rate in Indonesia. From the estimated results, the author concludes that the quality of students and school curriculum matching industrial needs-- for tourism expertise, is proven to have a positive and significant effect on the unemployment rate. On the other hand, as for quality of teachers and school curriculum matching industrial needs-- in the construction field, a negative and significant effect on the unemployment rate is witnessed. Based on the results and a few other studies regarding vocational education in Japan, the author made some suggestion for Indonesian national policies: 1) cooperate with local industry; 2) provide greater attention to the local potential of each province; 3) prioritize professionals in the industry for recruitment of teachers; and 4) extend the formal education period of vocational schools for additional one or two years.

Graduates from vocational schools (SMKs) are expected to be able and ready to work as experts in their field from day one of employment. However, in reality the absorption rate of graduates in the work place is still far from the expected level despite the Indonesian government efforts to strengthen SMKs over the last 20 years. In addition to employment availability that is not yet in line with the number of those graduates, the quality factor (match between what is needed and what has been gained) by the graduates is still the main cause of the many graduates not being promptly employed. Obviously, a stronger connection between the education sector and industry sectors and stakeholders at the local community level is needed. The goal of education is to empower people, both in terms of knowledge and settlement of contextual problems they face daily. Using the data from Statistics Indonesia and Ministry of Education and Culture (MOEC) of 34 provinces in Indonesia for the year 2017, this empirical study presents the cross-section regression by Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method. The research on national data using several education variables was used in order to check the relationship between vocational school coursework and the unemployment rate in Indonesia. From the estimated results, the author concludes that the quality of students and school curriculum matching industrial needs-- for tourism expertise, is proven to have a positive and significant effect on the unemployment rate. On the other hand, as for quality of teachers and school curriculum matching industrial needs-- in the construction field, a negative and significant effect on the unemployment rate is witnessed. Based on the results and a few other studies regarding vocational education in Japan, the author made some suggestion for Indonesian national policies: 1) cooperate with local industry; 2) provide greater attention to the local potential of each province; 3) prioritize professionals in the industry for recruitment of teachers; and 4) extend the formal education period of vocational schools for additional one or two years.

Kata Kunci : vocational schools, unemployment rate, quality of students, quality of teachers, school skill match industry needs.