he Industry Ministry launched on Tuesday a demand-driven vocational program named "Link and Match" in an industrial area in Mojokerto, East Java, to address the lack of skilled workers, a problem that hampers the development of some industries.
The program allows the ministry and East Java administration to link or connect 219 vocational schools (SMK) with 49 firms in the province.
The firms, such as state train builder PT INKA, state foundry company PT Barata Indonesia and state shipbuilding firm PT Pal Indonesia, say they are committed to absorbing graduates from the schools.
(Read also: Jokowi urges vocational schools to offer vlog, animation courses)
Besides linking the schools and the “end users”, the ministry is planning to revamp the teaching method and subjects taught at the schools to improve manpower quality, as stipulated by Presidential Instruction No. 9/2016 on SMK revitalization.
“Supply of skillful workers is essential for significant growth in the manufacturing sector,” Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto said during the program’s launch, which was attended by Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
The government will launch the same program in other provinces as well, namely West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, DKI Jakarta and Banten, to channel one million skilled SMK graduates to the industry by 2019. (tas)
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