Central Java Governor Bibit Waluyo officially opened a state-run vocational school in Bayat district, Klaten regency, on Thursday, which was established mainly to preserve and develop the local craft of creating ceramics and batik.
Set up with financial support from the Qatar-based NGO Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) and in cooperation with Jakarta-based Titian Foundation, the SMKN 1 ROTA Bayat school offers ceramic and batik making as its major studies.
"Right from the start, the school is geared to sustaining two local skills: batik and ceramic making. That's why it is also focused on the two subjects," Titian Foundation chairwoman Lily Kasoem said.
Bayat has long been known as the traditional production center of both batik and ceramic products. As a ceramic production center, it is well known worldwide for its unique pottery wheel, locally known as putaran miring (inclined rotation).
Unfortunately most batik makers in the district are manual workers who work for businesspeople from nearby urban areas for a wage of between Rp 10,000 and Rp 15,000 a day. The is also true in the ceramic industry.
By being established in the district, Lily said, the school was not just expected to help preserve the local skills, but also create graduates capable of producing ceramic and batik products of high quality and economic value.
It's for this reason, she said, that the school was also designed with supporting facilities such workshops, an English language laboratory, a computer laboratory, library and Internet access.
Graduates of the school, she added, were expected to master at least five competencies: batik making, ceramic making, English, information technology and entrepreneurship.
ROTA director Omnia Noor agreed, saying the presence of the vocational school in the district would provide professional guidance to Bayat youth in the batik and ceramic industry that would allow them to market their products globally.
"Different organizations, government support, parents, students, specialists and artists all come together to deliver one message: education for all, today, tomorrow and forever," Omia Noor said.
Also at Thursday's inauguration, former Central Java governor Mardiyanto, who was also former home minister, was introduced as the project initiator. "I was the governor of the province when I offered this idea to the funding organizations. I think this is what Bayat really needs," he said.
Built on nearly three hectares of village administration land, the US$3 million school has just started its academic year with 127 students who were selected with help from the Titian Foundation. "All of the students are local residents," said Daliya, a teacher of the school.
