RPL Management Model for Capacity Building of Village Apparatus: A Case Study on Cooperation between Surabaya State University and Bojonegoro District Government

Law Number 23 of 2014 grants regional autonomy, which means that each regional institution is authorized to manage its own policies. This includes village governments, which are regulated by Law Number 6 of 2014. Therefore, it is crucial to have competent village personnel who can provide exceptional services to the citizens. In 2021, 45,387 village heads, 43,876 village secretaries, 31,147 village-owned enterprise managers, and 7,889 professional assistants graduated from high school, according to data from the Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration. This highlights the need to strengthen the education of village apparatus. One way to achieve this is through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) program, which is a collaboration between the Ministry and universities such as the State University of Surabaya and the State University of Yogyakarta. This program can help improve the skills of village apparatus. However, there is a gap between the reality and the implementation of the collaboration between the Ministry and Pertindes regarding the implementation of RPL for village apparatus. In Bojonegoro Regency, for instance, only 61% of village heads had a high school educational background in 2022, according to the Office of Community Empowerment and Village Government. To address this issue, the researcher aims to understand the management of RPL in Bojonegoro Regency to improve the capacity of village apparatus. The research is based at the State University of Surabaya and Bojonegoro Regency. The study obtained primary data from interviews, literature studies, and a memorandum of understanding between the State University of Surabaya (UNESA) and the Bojonegoro Regency Government. The researcher used a knowledge management approach in program planning, which focused on six main stages in development planning. These stages included problem identification, problem diagnosis, design stage, design implementation, design testing, and solution formulation. The results of the study showed that collaboration and support from educational institutions are strategic solutions for improving village human resources. Additionally, the RPL program is relevant to the functions of higher education institutions in preparing personnel for village government administration. The implementation of RPL in Bojonegoro is in accordance with the principles of cooperation. However, there were some technical obstacles in the implementation of activities.