Wednesday (7/31), the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of Indonesia held a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with the Asian Development Bank in the Minitheater Room of the PENS Postgraduate Building. The activity was attended by the EEPIS’ Director, Dr. Zainal Arief, S.T., M.T. and Ir. Ridwan M.Sc. as the Director of Higher Education Institutional Development. The theme for the FGD is “Development of Vocational Education in Indonesia”.
Presenting the Vocational and Education Specialist from Harvard Business school, Prof. Marito Garcia. The discussion was focusing on strategic issues, challenges, and the latest information regarding vocational education. He emphasized the idea of revitalization and the trend of cyber education upon how it can be very important to improve the quality of vocational education. Besides, Prof. Garcia also provided insight into the vocational education system in the United States.
After the presentation, all participants had a campus tour by visiting several laboratories, including the Motion Capture Laboratory, the Distance Education Laboratory, and the Intelligent Mechatronics & Industrial Automation Laboratory. “There is interest from the Government and Polytechnic to use distance education technology. The first is to improve the quality of learning, then the second is to increase access by those who are located very far from urban areas in Indonesia.
So, everyone can learn about new trends and technologies in the world, “said Prof. Garcia. With the presence of this FGD, it is expected that ideas or innovations can be implemented to have a better vocational education system in Indonesia so that it can also have an impact on the quality of graduates of better vocational institutions. (Tiwi/Della)
