Indonesia, Switzerland to Cooperate in Vocational Education

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia has received an offer from the Swiss government to cooperate in the vocational education sector. The offer was extended by the head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education, and Research Johann N. Schneider-Ammann during a meeting with President Joko Widodo or Jokowi at the Bogor Palace today. The latter has welcomed the proposal.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said that the offer is too good to turn down. Moreover, Switzerland is known for its vocational education and has a good bilateral relationship with Indonesia.

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Pramono said that the two countries saw a sizable bilateral trade improvement in the past three years at 238 percent.

The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution added that Mr. Johann’s offer was serious and the government will issue an official response before President Joko Widodo’s visit to Switzerland at the end of the year.

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In terms of the form of the cooperation, Darmin said that vocational schools may be built across the country. After all, he said, Indonesia already has, among others, an Industrial Machinery Engineering vocational school (ATMI) in Solo, Central Java.

“In Bandung, we and Switzerland are also working together [in running] a vocational school. We want to replicate it across Indonesia. Maybe not in a large number, but in major cities,” Darmin said.

ISTMAN MP