Yogyakarta State University (YSU) organized the International Conference on Vocational Education and Training (ICVET) 2016 at the Sheraton Hotel (15 / 09-2016), with the theme of "Strengthening TVET in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)". The annual event, a collaboration of the Faculty of Engineering and the Graduate School is aimed to contribute to the improvement of the quality of vocational education to produce the Human Resources (HR) in Indonesia who are skilled and competent, thus can be accepted in other countries.
The Keynote Speaker was Prof. Intan Ahmad, Ph.D, the Director General of Education and Student Affairs, the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education who explained the strengthening of education and training in the ASEAN Economic Community.
While the guest speakers are Prof. Dr. Pascal Marquet from Strasbourg University, France, who talked about the development of ICT, and Dr. Michael Grosch from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, on the development of the draft for ASEAN vocational education teachers, as well as Tony Borkett, Manager Technical Training and Development of PT Thiess Contractor who explain the role of the private sector in the development of competence in vocational education, also Prof. Soenarto, Ph.D., Professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Yogyakarta State University who spoke about the role of vocational education in economic development and employment in the era of AEC.
Economic growth in a country depends on the development of industrial sector in which the industry requires skilled labour and it cannot be denied that labour-power in Indonesia rests on the vocational education. Therefore vocational education is very important in terms of meaning and position in the economic development of the nation.
Given that, the vocational education should pay attention to market demand (demand driven) and is adaptable to the changing needs of the market (market driven) and the development needs to pay attention to the study of economic sector, the study of economic development policy, and study of man-power.
The Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Yogyakarta State University, Dr. Widarto, said that ICVET is a forum for the advancement of vocational and vocational education in Indonesia. "By involving practitioners, academia and industry sectors, the agenda is expected to provide a breakthrough and renewal for the development of vocational education in Indonesia because the areas that are expected to win the competition in the era of the AEC," said the Dean.
"But just being skilful is not enough, because in this competitive era what matters is 'recognition' that is officially regarding an individual's expertise both nationally and internationally. It also would be subject to create standards in this conference, "said the Dean.
The conference was divided into several focuses of discussion, among them are, highlighting policies related to qualification frameworks, the role of education and vocational training in the growth of the national economy, the informal sector and local skills and institutional development of vocational teachers. (hryo)
