Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) System Reform (TSR)

Context

The Indonesian government places a high priority on improving the quality and quantity of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). This initiative is mainly driven by the fact that the labour market falls short of the Indonesian government’s expectations against the positive economic growth rates. Although the unemployment rate fell from 6.1 per cent to 4.1 per cent from 2012 to 2016 and that of youth unemployment from 19.5per cent to 15.4per cent, those aged 15-24 still represent the majority of the unemployed labour force at 58 per cent. Furthermore, the open unemployment rate of graduates of TVET secondary schools (SMKs) in August 2017 is still high at 23 per cent.

The Indonesian government is, therefore, aiming for an extensive modernisation and expansion of the TVET system. The Presidential Instruction adopted in September 2016 contains instructions related to ministries and other state institutions to initiate a comprehensive and ambitious reform agenda in the field of TVET. It addresses 34 governors and eleven ministries responsible for TVET development and implementation. This fragmented condition holds up the development of TVET. Coordination and collaboration among all key TVET stakeholders including the private sectors are necessary to overcome the obstacles in the TVET development.

Objective

Relevant private and public actors at national level have implemented key elements of the Indonesian government's reform agenda on technical and vocational education and training.

Approach

On behalf of the Indonesian Government and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs (Kemenko Perekonomian), together with GIZ as the implementing agency, set up a joint project at the national level. The Project consists of three fields of activity/outputs, namely: 

1. TVET coordination and TVET policy in aligning and regulating roles and initiatives of private and public actors within the TVET system; 
2. Collaboration with the private sector enhancing their engagement in TVET development; and 
3. Provision of advice and creation of suitable conditions for upscaling successful models and instruments to increase the relevance of TVET for the labour market. These three fields of activity/outputs highlight the strong participation of the private sector in technical and vocational education and training.