SMK Partnership with Industry to Improve Graduate Quality in Facing ASEAN Economic Community

Abstract

The cooperation between vocational high school (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan/SMK) and the industry is the realization of the implementation of dual system education in Indonesia. SMK cooperating with the industry will provide enormous benefits for students, schools, industry, and parents/guardians of learners. For learners, they will have good knowledge and skills, broad insight, and confidence that after graduation they are able to work and compete in the workfield. For schools, the education process will be more efficient and can reduce the cost of education. As for the industry, it will be easy to get skilled labors thus saving on recruitment costs, and it is a concern for the industry to improve education. For parents/guardians, SMK cooperating with the industry will give confidence to SMK that their students will get the assurance to be able to work according to their field of expertise after they have finished their education in the vocational school. Keywords—quality, SMK, cooperation, industry