The sound of a siren wailed three times, and hundreds of students neatly rushed towards the school ground of SMK Mitra Industri MM2100 located at the industrial zone of Cikarang, Bekasi to join school briefings conducted twice a day: in the morning before the beginning of the school hours and in the afternoon before the end of the school hours.

Accompanied by the national anthem of Bangun Pemuda Pemudi, the students enthusiastically shouted chants: Morning, morning, morning. Excellence! Keep fighting!” After participating in the briefing, they marched to the class rooms or practice rooms, continuing their day of studying and improving their skills under the guidance of teachers and instructors.

“We have built this school because it is difficult for us as human resource practitioners to find quality employees, especially for team members or operators. Another challenge is that local youth are unable to compete with youth from other regions in the process of recruitment,” said Lispiyatmini, S.Pd, Headmaster of SMK Mitra Industri MM2100, explaining the reason behind the establishment of this vocational school (SMK).

To create qualified and skilled graduates accordance to the needs of the industries, SMK MM2100 has developed partnerships with several industries located in the industrial zone.

According to Munandar, Head of Industrial Relations of SMK Mitra Industri MM2100, the first form of partnership between the school and the industry is in the development of curriculum. SMK Mitra Industri has validated the curriculum so that all productive materials provided have matched the competencies used by the industry.

This industrial curriculum validation is in line with the government’s programme under the Ministry of Education and Culture. Dr. Ir. M. Bakrun, MM, Director for the Empowerment of Vocational Schools, explained that based on the Presidential Instruction No. 9 Year 2016 on the revitalization of SMK, one of the points requires SMK to collaborate with the industry.

“Therefore, the government has collaborated with industries to jointly formulate the curriculum. We have jointly formulate many curriculums that are align with the needs of industries,” he said.

School apprenticeship producing work-ready graduates

The second collaboration is conducted in the area of school apprenticeship, adopting the apprenticeship system in Germany. This system is divided into two types of programmes in the forms of school apprenticeship and teaching factory programme conducted for duration of one year.

Gendita Gumri, a student majoring in electricity, had taken benefit from the apprenticeship programme and she easily adjusted with her working environment when doing her apprenticeship a while ago. “When I joined the production process, I already know the type of the machine, what it is for and its function. My leader was amazed. He said, wow you have learned this at your school. Other SMKs have never taught about this.”

A similar benefit was also gained by Winda, who was doing her school apprenticeship at PT Jotun Indonesia. “Before the apprenticeship, I was just a regular student. Now I feel like a regular employee. I am no different with other employees.”

Meanwhile a teaching factory programme is a learning programme replicating the real working environment and industrial activity. It is a collaboration between a company and a vocational school in which company’s several products are being produced by the students of the vocational school. It is also known as a company or a factory located within a school.

One of the companies conducting a teaching factory programme at SMK MM2100 was PT Asahi Besbes Indonesia. “We directly teach the students how to produce the products using real materials. By having on the job training, the end results of the students are according to our targets and standards,” stated Shinta Melani, PIC of PT Asahi Besbes Indonesia.

In addition, the third collaboration is on the recruitment in which companies have booked the students for recruitment before graduating. Companies have recruited twelfth year students of SMK Mitra Industri in advance and they will be directly placed at the recruited companies after graduation.

“SMK Mitra Industri graduates are ready-for-work because they have confidence to learn from the industry. As a user I am satisfied with SMK Mitra Industri graduates,” told Ferina Hidayati, Recruitment and Training Officer of PT Jotun Indonesia.

The other type of partnership is the apprenticeship programme or on-the-job-training for teachers and instructors. SMK MM2100 has collaborated with some companies to provide its teachers and instructors for this apprenticeship programme.

According to Agus Pranoto Sidik, one of the automotive instructors who previously joined the on-the-job training programme, the apprenticeship programme for teachers and instructors is a regular programme within a duration of one year for four teachers/instructors. “There are so many advantages that we obtain from this programme as we become more competent and updated on new developments of technological advances of the industry,” added Agus.

Appreciating the partnership and collaboration developed between SMK MM2100 and the industry, Dede Shinta Sudono, the ILO’s Programme Coordinator for Apprenticeship, said that the partnership could improve the link and match between the competencies of SMK students’ with the available employment opportunities.

“The Industry can also contribute to jointly develop the curriculum with SMK, share their knowledge by providing professional instructors, provide practical trainings through quality apprenticeship for both students and teachers,” Dede continued, adding that in line with celebration of the ILO centenary, the organization continues to support decent work through skills development by strengthening the partnership between the industry and vocational education and training institutions.