Vocational High School Prospective Graduates' Employability via Dual Vocational Certification (DVC)

Vocational High Schools are educational institution aiming to prepare the ready-to-employ graduates by prioritizing their skill and expertise according to their areas of expertise (Azri, Irwan, & Nurul, 2020; Mukhlason, Winanti, & Yundra, 2020). Vocational High School is expected to play an important role in holistic human development and community development Indonesia entirely and reduce the number of early school leaver (Slamet, 2016; Diwangkoro & Soenarto, 2020; Farrugia & Martina, 2021). While the growth of employment in the industrial sector is growing slowly, the graduates of Vocational High Schools are increasing but the rate of joblessness of the Vocational Highs Schools graduates has become a critical issue in Indonesia (Erlinawati, 2020; Wijaya & Utami, 2021; Hanifah & Suharyanto, 2021). As a result, these Vocational High Schools graduates are not accommodated in the industrial sector and they become job seekers or open unemployment (Dewi, 2017; Yunikawati, Prayitno, Purboyo, Istiqomah, & Puspasari, 2018; Azman, Ambiyar, Simatupang, Karudin, & Dakhi, 2020). The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported that in August 2021, the majority of unemployed people in Indonesia were dominated to 11.13% or 9.77 million by the graduates from Vocational High Schools (BPS, 2021). Most of the Vocational High Schools graduates intend to work immediately, but are not employed in the industry or business sector. This is due to the increase of Vocational High Schools graduates who are mismatched by job opportunities. Keywords: Dual Certification; Vocational High School; Employability