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Nigel Carpenter Interview for The Australia-Indonesia Centre

How Australia can meet Indonesia’s demand for high quality skills training

In June Susinable Skillsta CEO, Nigel Carpenter, was invited by the Australia Indonesia Business Council Victoria (AIBC) to speak at the Education Panel discussion about education in Indonesia. The conference aimed to unpick some of the key issues in a critical sector for Indonesia, and learn more about the country’s aspirations.

We are sharing an article about how Australia can meet Indonesia’s demand for high quality skills training written by Nigel Carpenter for The Australia-Indonesia Centre (AIC) as well as a video interview produced by AIC.

 

 

President Widodo has elevated infrastructure investment to the top priority and has an enormous investment agenda.

In this case it appears likely that a major constraint will be skills. Already, key projects are heavily staffed by foreigners – a practice that Indonesia simply can’t sustain.

Indonesia is a fiercely independent country with an economy that continues to grow. As the Indonesian economy has grown so has the need to improve the education system particularly vocational education.

We found a country with a strong desire to improve its VET system that has a high degree of alignment with industry demand and a practical design that supports the needs of low income communities.

The Australian model, with its well-established industry-based competencies and modular course design, is very often the preferred choice for both qualitative and pragmatic reasons.

Our approach has been to work with Indonesian Ministries that have developed plans to reform VET, take key principles of the Australian VET system, understand the local culture and develop solutions.

Indonesia has the chance to reform its VET picking the best the international education system has to offer.

Nigel Carpenter in West Java to understand local cattle farming with the objective of developing a plan to develop skills and therefore productivity.

Prior to my first trip to Jakarta I was told Indonesia requires a lot of time and patience to succeed, that business is done differently, and a lot of effort is required to understand the culture and build relationships.

All the advice I received has proven true.

The challenge is being prepared to build sound relationships and there’s only one way to do this – be in front of people and let them know you’re truly interested in their problems.

Indonesians tell me they like Sustainable Skills because we’re committed, and we don’t think several visits over six months will deliver success.

By building the relationship and understanding the problem, an Indonesian solution can be developed. Once a relationship and trust has been established then projects will proceed.

There are major VET capacity constraints and a massive need to build skills. For example, Indonesia wants to build 35 GW of energy.

Nigel Carpenter delivered a lecture at Universitas Pendidikan Bandung on what an Indonesian TVET Centre of Excellence could be.

The Indonesian Government estimates the construction and operating of this system will create 1 million jobs. This creates a huge opportunity for Indonesia to build skills and bring more people out of poverty.

These jobs require world standard competencies and a training system that will deliver world standard skills, otherwise more foreigners will be required.

We are working with the Indonesian government to develop plans to seize this opportunity.

Opportunities are not straight forward, and no one would advocate a rush of investments in Australian-styled institutions in environments with very different economic and social drivers, not to mention much lower incomes.

But the risks can be managed and the scale requirements beyond the initial capacity-building are manageable. Yet so far, most of the activity by Australian providers in these markets has a focus on accreditation, implying some of sort of local delivery of Australian courseware.

Australia has an opportunity to not only attract foreign students but to also develop offshore opportunities and extend the value of our education capabilities and expertise. This requires the development of new solutions.

In pursuing our usual work, we identified the need and commercial opportunity to establish an Australian led Indonesian managed stand-alone training centre.

We have identified a strong local partner and have had significant encouragement in testing the proposition with Indonesian industry and government approval authorities.

This opportunity aligns with the very high priority of infrastructure and tourism investment in the Widodo Government’s agenda. We’ve developed a business plan that doesn’t need a change to Indonesian laws.

Sustainable Skills has developed several very interesting opportunities that we will continue to explore and develop. Each requires a local focus and strong guidance from experienced Australian specialists.

This will take time, but we are confident that strong results will emerge from the application of that Australian expertise. We’d welcome partners or supporters in any of these projects.

Source: Australia-Indonesia Centre

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From the Desk of the CEO – June 2018 Newsletter Address

This month, I was invited by the Australia Indonesia Business Council Victoria (AIBC) to speak at the Education Panel discussion about education in Indonesia. The conference aimed to unpick some of the key issues in a critical sector for Indonesia, and learn more about the country’s aspirations.

During the panel, AIBC provided some timely analysis of the key sectors and what it means for educational business and organisations in Australia.

The panel discussion, moderated by Helen Brown, Managing Director, Bisnis Asia, involved Professor Abid Khan, Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Vice-President, Global Engagement, Monash University, Elena Williams, Immediate past Resident Director, Australian Consortium for In-County Indonesian Studies (ACICIS), and Sigmund Fritschy, Senior Manager, Strategy and Policy – International Education, Victorian Government. The invitation to represent Sustainable Skills at the panel has been a privilege as well as a recognition of the work we have done over the past two years exploring VET market partnerships in Indonesia, and establishing relationships with Ministries and industry officials.

The panel discussed a number of opportunities which have been created by Indonesia’s desire and need to improve the education sector generally and the vocational education sector specifically. However to succeed in helping Indonesia develop an industry engaged vocational education sector
Australian institutions need to spend the time developing relationships and understanding the culture.

Sustainable Skills during the past 18 months has built strong relationships with a number of Indonesian ministries and government organisations and has developed a menu of very interesting opportunities that we will continue to explore and develop. Each requires a local focus and strong guidance from experienced Australian specialists. This will take time, but we are confident that strong results will emerge from the application of that Australian expertise. We’d welcome partners or supporters in any of these projects.

We are glad to announce that the team which is currently managing the consultancy contract sponsored by the World Bank to address skills imbalances and shortages in Uganda is now complete. Over the past two months, we have gone through a recruitment process to appoint new Team Leader and Senior Consultant. Lisa Giammarco has been appointed to the Team Leader position after her many months of service as the Acting Team Leader and Senior Consultant. Sarah Nalumansi has now joined the Kamapla based team, which comprises Mary Jo Kakinda and Simon Peter Nanagbo, stepping into Lisa’s former role as the new Senior Consultant. Sarah has significant depth and breadth of experience in projects similar to the due diligence activities we are undertaking for the Private Sector Foundation Uganda and will be a great asset to this project. Welcome on board Sarah!

 

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Message from the Chair – May 2018

Australians sometimes take for granted the excellent educational services and experiences available to us. Not only are they central to the progress of our community and its citizens, but they have become important contributors in an economy that has gradually moved toward an increasing level of service exports.

Yet, despite Australia’s success in attracting fee-paying foreign students, we have left untested very large opportunities to extend the value of our education capabilities and expertise.

For some time now the fastest growing economies of the world have been in formerly underdeveloped nations. Gradually, many of those nations have established stronger economic performance and slowly they have improved governance and other factors that attract the catalyst of larger scale investment. The opportunity becomes one of compounding growth and rising prosperity.

In country after country, Sustainable Skills has found a new apetite for skills training. Specifically, vocational training that has a high degree of alignment with industry demand and a practical design that supports the needs of low income communities. The Australian model, with its well established industry based competencies and modular course design, is very often the preferred choice for both qualitative and pragmatic reasons.

For example, Myanmar’s new democratic government has hoped to promote rapid economic improvement on the back of the removal of international sanctions. Yet it’s education system so far has been simply unable to provide skilled people. In the course of revising its entire education system, Myanmar’s Government elevated vocational education from nowhere to top of the list. As the nation’s most consistent long term supporter, Australia has an edge in what should become a dynamic growth market.

Even more obvious is the opportunity in Indonesia. President Widodo has elevated infrastructure investment to the top priority and has an enormous investment agenda. In this case it appears likely that a major constraint will be skills. Already, key projects like the Jakarta metro are heavily staffed by foreigners – a practice that Indonesia simply can’t sustain. Again, Australian vocational education is the preferred model.

Ethiopia, Vietnam, Malaysia, India and many other developing markets are looking for the means to fast track vocational education improvements. Not all of these opportunities is straight forward and no one would advocate a rush of investments in Australian-styled institutions is environments with very different economic and social drivers, not to mention much lower incomes. But the risks can be managed and the scale requirements beyond the initial capacity-building are manageable. Yet so far, most of the activity by Australian providers in these markets has a focus on accreditation, implying some of sort of local delivery of Australian courseware. This has been demonstrated time and again to be impractical.

Sustainable Skills has a menu of very interesting opportunities that we will continue to explore and develop.  Each requires a local focus and strong guidance from experienced Australian specialists. This will take time, but we are confident that strong results will emerge from the application of that Australian expertise. We’d welcome partners or supporters in any of these projects.

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From the Desk of the CEO – April 2018 Newsletter Address

We have recently celebrated one year since the transition from SkillsDMC to Sustainable Skills was completed and we have come a long way from where we began. Over the past 12 moths, our new Sustainable Skills brand has evolved and our organisation is now recognised as a reputable TVET consultancy able to develop, support, and assist effective vocational education and training (TVET) systems worldwide.

I would like to take this opportunity to share our video – presentation which gives an overview of our mission and vision, and includes a very interesting testimonial given by Fidelis Cheelo, who took part in the Capacity Building program we managed in 2015-16 at TEVETA in Zambia.

During the first stage of the Sustainable Skills project, we focussed entirely on exploring and developing new business opportunities across different areas including Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Uganda, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar. Alongside, we worked to build a team of highly qualified TVET consultants and recruit board directors able to reflect the new scope of our business across a broad range of industrial sectors worldwide.

The second phase saw us concentrating our resources on regions where Sustainable Skills expertise and background can effectively assist to implement a successful reform of the national TVET system, like Indonesia.

Sustainable Skills has now developed a strong position in Indonesia where an important reform of the vocational education system to support the needs of a rapidly emerging economy by improving the quality and competitiveness of his country’s human resources is a priority on the government agenda.

As part of the national TVET reform Indonesia is establishing a new national TVET Centre of Excellence. Last month, I was invited to review the plans and deliver a lecture in Bandung on the challenges and opportunities of establishing the Centre. Development of the Centre of Excellence for TVET in Indonesia will address the fundamental mismatch between training outcomes and industry needs. The objective is to influence the broader Indonesian TVET ecosystem to support students in finding the ‘right training’ at the ‘right time’ for the ‘right job’. It’s about having the right people in the right places.

In July 2017 a significant milestone was achieved as we have been officially awarded a consultancy contract sponsored by the World Bank to address skills imbalances and shortages in Uganda. Client of the contract is the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) and this is the first non Australian government contract in the history of Sustainable Skills/SkillsDMC. The first quarter of the project has seen the Sustainable Skills team of TVET experts working on the due diligence and capacity assessment stages and conducting a number of site visits to ensure that applicants supposed to deliver the skills training are fully capable of executing their responsibilities, especially regarding their facility, experience, and expertise.  In February 2018,  I had the pleasure to visit our Kampala based team of exceptionally-qualified local consultants who are delivering the project. The team is currently formed by Mary Jo Kakinda and Simon Peter Nangabo and will increase to 3, based in Kampala, within the next few weeks.

In addition to Indonesia, Myanmar and East Africa, which are currently the most promising opportunities, we have a number of exciting projects in the pipeline. We believe we have built strong business foundation so far and we’ll continue to manage the organisation doing everything we possibly can to succeed and contribute to build effective TVET systems worldwide.

 

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From the desk of the CEO-March 2018 newsletter address

Our CEO, Nigel Carpenter, delivered a lecture on the challenges and opportunities in establishing a Centre of Excellence focused on industry-led and the Australian TVET experience at the proposed location in Bandung.

Indonesia is currently undergoing a transition phase as it develops to become a knowledge-based economy focused on increased competitiveness, growth and productivity. Skills are significant obstacles in this respect, and the country’s government is investing more in the development of the nation’s education and training system to close these gaps and to transform the Indonesian technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system into one that provides demand-driven programmes, aimed at improving employability and participation in lifelong learning.

To continue Indonesia’s economic expansion President Widodo started an infrastructure development program to help bring more of the population out of poverty. The program requires millions of skilled people that are not available in Indonesia. To address this issue President Widodo instructed his Ministries to make vocational education reform a priority to improve the quality and competitiveness of his country’s human resources. Currently there is a significant mismatch between skills development and industry skill needs.

The main challenges currently facing TVET in Indonesia come down to a lack of engagement with industry and understanding of the demands of the labour market. The skills of the Indonesian workforce do not meet the demands of the labour market. Addressing this skill mismatch supports higher productivity, competitiveness and growth.

National TVET Centre of Excellence

As part of the national TVET reform Indonesia is establishing a new national TVET Centre of Excellence. I was invited to review the plans and deliver a lecture in Bandung last week on the challenges and opportunities of establishing the Centre.
Development of the Centre of Excellence for TVET in Indonesia will address the fundamental mismatch between training outcomes and industry needs. The objective is to influence the broader Indonesian TVET ecosystem to support students in finding the ‘right training’ at the ‘right time’ for the ‘right job’. It’s about having the right people in the right places.

The Indonesian Government recognises that the TVET system must be competency-based with standards pertaining to industry. In effect it must be demand-driven.
Further objectives of the Centre of Excellence are to:

• Open and develop new training programs relevant to the job market
• Develop a research and development centre, which will serve as a reference centre and vocational education policy analysis centre
• Establish and develop a teacher certification program
• Establish and develop a qualified teacher training and education centre
• Work with policy makers to drive change to TVET systems
• Develop equal access to quality job opportunities for all
• Ensure people have the skills needed by the job market

The Centre of Excellence recognises the need to work with Industry to identify Industry’s skills needs and help people graduating from TVET colleges find a job and address the quality of Indonesian teachers and lecturers.
During my visit we discussed many aspects of a successful TVET ecosystem including the following six principles:

• Competency based
• Industry led, stakeholder friendly
• Flexible, scalable and customisable
• Integrated soft skills
• Data driven
• Focused on vocational outcomes

Whilst recognising outcomes are based on a shared responsibility between government, industry and training organisations, we also discussed the importance of Industry’s role:

• Industry involved at every step-in qualification development and implementation (training) and training regulation
• Ultimately, industry is the primary ‘client’ of any TVET system, central to increasing human capital development
• While industry may ‘know’ what it needs, only an effective TVET system can help translate those needs into actionable skills development for the nation’s workforce capability while supporting a growing economy
• Both industry and training providers, supported by the TVET ecosystem as a whole, have a ‘hand-in-glove’ relationship
• The basis of this relationship is an approach to curriculum design and teaching that can support the priorities of both and lead to quality outcomes for students

The Centre of Excellence is in the design phase of determining how it can influence better outcomes. Sustainable Skills is helping to explore how it can influence the broader Indonesian TVET ecosystem and develop the human resource skills and TVET systems needed to support students in finding the ‘right training’ at the ‘right time’ for the ‘right job’.

Sustainable Skills develops, supports and assists effective technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems worldwide.

 

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From the desk of the CEO-February 2018 newsletter address

Sustainable Skills CEO, Nigel Carpenter, with Mary Jo Kakinda and Simon Peter Nangabo, Associate Consultants for the Uganda Project, Kampala, February 2018.

This is our first newsletter of 2018 and we hope you had a great Christmas and a fantastic celebration of the New Year. 2018 promises to be a big year for Sustainable Skills, with a number of strategic projects started in 2017 that we are confident will convert to business opportunities over the course of this year.

In late January, I travelled to Indonesia to visit the Ministry of Manpower’s BBPLK Polytechnic Bekasi, which is currently implementing a revitalisation plan with a strong focus on industry, and we hope Sustainable Skills will have the opportunity to help designing an efficient, industry-led vocational education system. During this trip I held a number of meetings with Indonesian government departments and organisations with the focus on developing TVET to improve skills outcomes and increase job opportunities. Indonesia wants to improve its TVET system. During March I will be visiting the site for a new TVET Centre of Excellence where we have been asked to advise on how the Centre of Excellence can improve TVET outcomes.

Between 5 and 8 February, I travelled to Cape Town to attend Mining Indaba, the World’s Largest Mining Investment Conference and the Largest Mining Event in Africa. For over 20 years, this event collected mining companies, investors and other stakeholders from around the world, and is dedicated to supporting education, career development, sustainable development, and other important causes in Africa.

Mining Indaba presented the opportunity to meet with international key stakeholders including governments, donors, organisations, mining companies, and delegations from Europe, America, Canada, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya, Ghana as well as the Intergovernmental Forum.

The second part of my trip to Africa brought me to Kenya to meet with representatives of the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, which is looking for support to build the capacity of 3000 local workforce.

In Nairobi I had the chance to meet with TVETA and discuss about the opportunity to help Kenya developing a world standard TVET education system based on industry engagement. Sustainable Skills is looking forward to helping the new Mining Institute’s Committee with the objective of developing TVET to ensure locals have the skills industry needs. This followed a meeting with the Director General of TVETA who is revitalising TVET which is based on Australia’s systems and frameworks.

I moved from Kenya to Ethiopia, where the growing population needs jobs and skills. I met with the Ministry of Education and TVET Institute and have helped develop plans to improve the knowledge of teachers and lecturers.
As for a number of countries in the area, Ethiopia’s TVET system is also based on Australia’s.

I took the opportunity of my trip to Africa to meet our Kampala based team of exceptionally-qualified local consultants who are delivering our Due Diligence and Technical Evaluation project for employer-led short term training to address prevailing skills imbalances and shortages in Uganda. We’re working with the Skills Development Facility and Private Sector Foundation Uganda with the project sponsored by the World Bank. Our local team is currently formed by Mary Jo Kakinda and Simon Peter Nangabo and will increase to 3, based in Kampala, within the next few weeks. In the “Meet the Team” section of this newsletter we are proud to introduce Mary Jo Kakinda, Associate Consultant for the project.

 

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From the desk of the CEO-December 2017 newsletter address

Nigel Carpenter, Sustainable Skills CEO, introducing our organisation during a seminar in Jakarta on 14 December.

This has been a remarkable year for our organisation, beginning with the launch of our new  Sustainable Skills brand which is now recognised as a reputable TVET consultancy in a number of countries.

During the first part of the year we focussed entirely on exploring and developing new business opportunities across different areas including Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Uganda, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar. Alongside, we worked to build a team of highly qualified TVET consultants and recruit board directors able to reflect the new scope of our business across a broad range of industrial sectors worldwide.

The second part of the year saw us concentrating our resources on regions where Sustainable Skills expertise and background can effectively assist to build TVET systems able to meet the nation’s needs, like Indonesia and Myanmar.

Sustainable Skills has developed a strong position in Indonesia where an important reform of the vocational education system to support the needs of a rapidly emerging economy by improving the quality and competitiveness of his country’s human resources is a priority on the government agenda. This month, I had the pleasure of being invited by the Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology
and Higher Education to present Sustainable Skills to a 4-hour seminar on the benefits of an industry-led TVET system in Jakarta. Over 40 polytechnics were invited from throughout the archipelago. The seminar was well received and good outcomes were achieved. In fact we’ve been asked to deliver a longer workshop in the new year. Indonesia recognises there’s a need to work more closely with industry so that
students are more likely to have the skills industry wants and therefore gain work.

In Myanmar  the Government has recently launched a new National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) aiming to establish an accessible, equitable and effective national education system over the next five years. The ultimate goal of this plan is to equip local students with the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century and to enable them to fulfil their career and lifelong learning aspirations. Sustainable Skills can support the execution of the plan and assist with projects that increase the quality and supply of education and training places.

In July a significant milestone was achieved as we have been officially awarded a consultancy contract sponsored by the World Bank to address skills imbalances and shortages in Uganda. Client of the contract is the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) and this is the first non Australian government contract in the history of Sustainable Skills/SkillsDMC. The first quarter of the project has seen the Sustainable Skills team of TVET experts working on the due diligence and capacity assessment stages and conducting a number of site visits to ensure that applicants supposed to deliver the skills training are fully capable of executing their responsibilities, especially regarding their facility, experience, and expertise.

We are at an early stage of our path and we are aware of the important challenges Sustainable Skills will face next year to achieve our goals. We believe the foundation we built so far are strong and promising and we’ll continue to manage the organisation doing everything we possibly can to succeed and contribute to build effective TVET systems worldwide.

I would like to thank the Sustainable Skills team for the commitment to the organisation during this challenging year, all our Board Directors for their support and trust, our Chair of the Board who has been instrumental to develop our current strategy, and all our stakeholders and partners who followed and supported us over the course of this year.

Sustainable Skills will shutdown operations over the Christmas and New Year period. Our last day of work will be Thursday 21st December and returning to work on Monday 15th January. The Sustainable Skills team wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2018.

 

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From the desk of the CEO-November 2017 newsletter address

Nigel Carpenter, Sustainable Skills CEO, signing the declaration committing to implement an industry-led system. Jakarta, 14 November 2017.

On 14 November I had the pleasure of speaking at the Rembug Nasional seminar organised in Jakarta by IINC – The Indonesian Institute for National Competence, a not-for-profit organisation appointed to build the National Competency System (SKN) or “Siskomnas”. The seminar focussed on how to improve the quality and competitiveness of Indonesia’s human resources to increase the country’s productivity and help bring more of the population out of poverty.

There were speakers from BNSP, the Indonesian Professional Certifications Authority, Ministries of Manpower, Industry, and Bappenas, the central government institution responsible for formulating national development planning and budgeting, as well as for international development cooperation. Sustainable Skills was the only foreign organisation invited to attend the seminar, positioning our team as a well regarded advisor able to support Indonesia to meet its skills needs. I was invited by Pak Abdul Wahab Bangkona, Special Advisor for International Affairs of the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower, to deliver a speech about how an industry-led TVET system can help improve educational outcomes and drive productivity in Indonesia. At the end of the seminar I had the privilege to sign a declaration committing to implement an industry-led TVET system in Indonesia.

This month our Chair of the Board, Michael Gill, travelled to Myanmar to strengthen our partnership with local institutions. The Government recently released the Myanmar’s National Education Strategy Plan, which gives high priority to vocational education, reflecting the urgent need to improve the employment prospects of younger people and the gap in skills available to meet the nation’s needs. As Myanmar implements its strategy for education, Sustainable Skills aims to play a number of roles supporting the execution of the plan and assisting with projects that increase the quality and supply of education and training places.

The project in Uganda funded by the World Bank to address skills imbalances and shortages in the Country is progressing. Our team of exceptionally-qualified local and international TVET experts is currently designing a model of due diligence and capacity assessments to ensure that all material facts relevant to the funding decision have been revealed, and that all the organisations involved in the project are honest, reliable, and fully capable of executing their responsibilities under the grant agreements.

Since 23 November, Ben Rawlings is no longer working with Sustainable Skills. I would like to thank Ben for his contribution to the organisation over the past four years and particularly during the transition from SkillsDMC to Sustainable Skills. We wish Ben every success in life and in his future endeavors. We have now appointed Luke Behncke as the new Director International Development Services, who will start working with Sustainable Skills on the 4th of December. Luke has over 20 years’ experience in education and business development with a demonstrated history of working in vocational education and training across all industries in domestic and international markets, which will make him a valuable asset to Sustainable Skills. I am pleased to welcome Luke to the team and we look forward to working with him.

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From the desk of the CEO-October 2017 newsletter address

Nigel Carpenter, Sustainable Skills CEO, meeting with Dr. Paristiyanti Nurwardani, Director of Learning, and Hendra Suryanto, at the Ministry of Research Technology and Higher Education this month in Jakarta.

Indonesia, Australia’s largest near neighbouring country, has been on a path of gradual reform for almost 20 years. In recent years, rapid economic development has created a shortage of skills in most industries.

The largest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia – a diverse archipelago nation of more than 300 ethnic groups — has charted impressive economic growth since overcoming the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. The country’s GDP per capita has steadily risen, from $857 in the year 2000 to $3,603 in 2016. Today, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation, the world’s 10th largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity, and a member of the G20.  An emerging middle-income country, Indonesia has made enormous gains in poverty reduction, cutting the poverty rate to more than half since 1999, to 10.9% in 2016.

Considerable challenges remain in achieving Indonesia’s goals. Out of a population of 252 million, more than 28 million Indonesians still live below the poverty line. Approximately 40% of the entire population remain vulnerable to falling into poverty, as their income hovers marginally above the national poverty line. 1.7 million youth enter the workforce each year.

To continue its economic expansion President Widodo started an infrastructure program to help bring more of the population out of poverty. The program aims to deliver enormous expansion in power generation, large investments in transport infrastructure and a series of new facilities at key ports. The program requires millions of skilled people that today are not available in Indonesia.

President Widodo instructed his Ministries last year to make vocational education reform a priority of the Indonesian Government to improve the quality and competitiveness of his country’s human resources.

Indonesia recognises that its existing vocational education and training system needs reform and reorientation towards an Industry-driven system. President Widodo said curriculum, learning materials, work practice, testing, and certification should be adjusted to meet the demands from the business world and industries. “I also think we have to involve the business world and industries because they have a better understanding about the needs of the workforce” President Jokowi said, adding that the system and demands of the business world and industries must be integrated in the vocational education and training system. The President also said the Government should ease regulations for the opening of private vocational schools.

President Jokowi believes Indonesia’s large population provides the opportunity to improve the country’s productivity yet if Indonesia fails to do so, the big population will potentially create problems.

Australia’s Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills Karen Andrews, during her visit to Jakarta earlier this year said, “Australia is well placed to support Indonesia achieve their skills objectives, drawing on our expertise right across the sector in industry-led, competency-based training, underpinned by excellent quality assurance measures”.

Australia’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) system, which is well regarded internationally, provides opportunities for Australia to support Indonesia to meet its skills needs. Australia’s industry-led, competency-based system provides a useful model for Indonesia to consider when planning reform.

The Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership (IA-CEPA) which will create the framework for a closer economic engagement between Australia and Indonesia includes discussions on how Australia might be able to build the capacity of Indonesia’s vocational education system.

Indonesia’s challenge is to develop a vocational education industry-led system that supports the needs of a rapidly emerging economy heading towards high income status. Indonesia needs to focus on improving the quality, widening participation and improving efficiency of its vocational education system. Reforms that develop an industry-led competency based modular system as demonstrated in a number of countries, including Australia, will provide the best means to help Indonesians gain employment and benefit from the massive infrastructure program Indonesia is implementing.

 

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Message from the Chair-August 2017

Michael Gill-Sustainable Skills Chair of the Board

One of the remarkable success stories in Australia’s recent economic history has been in tertiary education. Australian institutions have attracted very large numbers of foreign students and have developed a strong reputation, especially in our immediate region. Up to now, much of this has been the result of economic growth and rising middle class, notably in India and China. Most of this activity has been in and around Australian universities in Australia.

Sustainable Skills has developed a strong position in what may be a second wave of Australian education’s potential in our region and elsewhere. We have found that the Australian model of vocational education is both a natural fit and the preferred solution to a critical issue.

Substantial investment and opportunity has arisen in many communities in recent years as a result of improved governance or political reform. Where that has occurred it is common that governments find one substantial hurdle to the delivery of economic benefit. That hurdle is the lack of effective skills. Our work in many countries has been prompted by a realisation that vocational education and training is a critical component of economic development. In many cases, vocational education has been established but it is not aligned with today’s workplace. Or the courses are too expensive for people in low income communities. Or the standards are not effectively applied to ensure that students are correctly accredited. In some cases, there is no system, but a mixture of institutions aligned with different economic players in what often was a narrowly defined labour market.

Over many years, vocational education and training in Australia has refined characteristics that make it both effective and flexible in ways that are highly applicable in the situation of developing economies. Industry alignment is vitally important, providing the means to maximise the potential for job-ready students. Modular course design means that students may acquire skills incrementally, avoiding the often impractical requirement for years of full time study. Strong standards and accreditation management provide confidence and enhance the marketability of skills acquired. These are key attributes in our work today in a number of countries.

Some of our greatest opportunities are ahead. Indonesia and Myanmar are two neighbours in focus for us.

Indonesia, Australia’s nearest neighbour, has been on a path of gradual reform for almost 20 years. In recent years, steady economic progress has led to the ambitious program of President Joko Widodo for massive infrastructure investment. This program aims to deliver enormous expansion in power generation, large increments of transport infrastructure and a series of new facilities at key ports. Anyone familiar with Indonesia’s business conditions would be aware of the need for these improvements and of the value they will bring. But they will require millions of skilled people that today are not available in Indonesia.

Myanmar’s political reform came at a rapid pace from 2011, with first a relaxing of extremely tight controls by the military regime and then a popular election in November 2015 that returned an overwhelming majority to the democratic opposition, the National League for Democracy. However, the military-socialist regime in place from 1962 has left a large problem: Myanmar’s social infrastructure – its public service, legal system, education – is in poor condition, a brake on what could be quite rapid economic and social progress.

In our work we have witnessed in both Indonesia and Myanmar the gradual recognition of vocational education as a vital strategic factor and a high priority in public policy. In both cases, leading figures in government have indicated that the Australian system of vocational education is preferred.

Myanmar’s National Education Strategy Plan was released early this year after a number of years’ background research. The NESP gives high priority to vocational education, a new status that reflects both the urgent need to improve the employment prospects of younger people and the gap in skills available to meet the nation’s needs. As Myanmar implements its strategy for education, Sustainable Skills aims to play a number of roles in both supporting the execution of the plan and assisting with projects that increase the quality and supply of education and training places.

Indonesia’s focus on vocational education is at least partly driven by the demands of major projects that are in active planning. The imperative is very close to having deadlines. Our focus has been to offer support in policy development, consulting on specific sectoral projects and to work with potential local players in providing expertise to back new suppliers to the sector.

The flexibility of Sustainable Skills’ resources and well established background in the reality of providing strong outcomes has proven to be attractive to communities with real needs and opportunities. We are at an early stage of what presents at present as an extremely promising path.

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