The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated digital transformation in the world of education and training, including for instructors of TVET Centers or Balai Latihan Kerja (BLK). Irma Adyatni and Wiwiek Hayyin, two BLK instructors who are 1,450 kilometres apart in South Kalimantan and Central Java, are some of them.

Both 38 years old, Irma and Wiwiek were two participants of 180 instructors who attended the online content creation and delivery training organized by the ILO in collaboration with the Ministry of Manpower and Skilvul, a technology education platform, last year.

Irma Adyatni, who works as an instructor at BLK Tanjung, Tabalong, South Kalimantan, now teaches 32 students in two classes on local food processing: Making bread using yellow squash and processing “tempeh” from rubber seeds. For her training, she provided the training materials through the Google Classroom application. As for quizzes and summative tests, she chose gamification method using Quizzizz application to make them more challenging and interesting.

“When it comes to tests, they [participants] preferred to do it online than on paper,” explained Irma.

Meanwhile, Wiwiek Hayyin is an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) instructor from BLK Pekalongan. Even though the training in her BLK is still carried out offline, she started to provide online teaching materials in the form of a tutorial video that she produced after participating in the training. She also used Google Form application for the pre-test and post-test of her training.

“There is no internet network where I teach. I used my cellular phone to provide wifi hotspot during pre-test and post-test. It is important to introduce digital technology [in the training],” said Wiwiek.

Moving forward

The absence of technical instructions from the Ministry of Manpower regarding online training and hybrid learning, has not stopped both Irma and Wiwiek from starting a digital transformation at their respective BLKs.

They plan to create a Learning Management System (LMS), which will further strengthen the digital transformation that is now taking place. They also have other plans to develop online trainings according to the needs of the BLKs where they teach.


For the short term, for example, Irma intends to upload training materials on agricultural product processing to cloud computing services. The goal is to make them easily accessible to students or other instructors. Meanwhile, for the longer term, she wants to use AR (Augmented Reality) technology to explain food safety in her class.

“The use of AR technology can ease and optimize student’s understanding of training materials. By using AR to deliver room sanitation topic, for instance, will enable students to physically see bad microbes, which then help them to understand and conduct proper sanitation techniques,” said Irma who completed her Master’s degree at Purdue University, in the United States.

After the training, Wiwiek also wrote an article on opportunities and benefits of online training, encouraging TVET digital transformation. Her recent article entitled “Blended Learning BLK Online” was published by an online media last October.

Inadequate internet infrastructure in their regions, according to Irma and Wiwiek, is still a major obstacle. Although they were able to solve this issue by providing three different internet providers, they hope that there will be adequate infrastructure improvements.

"Online training is not only relevant as an emergency response during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is the future of training in BLK," said Irma. "Online training will increase access to and the capacity of training [in BLK]," Wiwiek added.

Online training regulations at BLK

Regarding the regulations governing online training at BLK, the Director of Instructors and Training Personnel at the Directorate General of Training and Productivity Development, Ministry of Manpower, Fauziah said that technical guidelines is currently being developed by the Directorate of Competency Standard and Training Programme Development.

”Meanwhile, my directorate is currently finalizing completing technical guidelines for BLK instructors in creating online training. This will be a benchmark for future instructors and provide guidance on the implementation of effective digital training," said Fauziah.

The establishment of technical guides, hopefully, will further accelerate the transformation of digital training in Indonesia, especially in BLKs, to reach even wider participation from all over the country.

This activity was carried out by the ILO through the Women's Workforce Readiness and Development Programme in STEM funded by J.P. The Morgan Chase Foundation, seeking to provide women in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines with training in non-technical and technical skills related to STEM, employability and leadership.