Public RelationsUPNVJ - Jakarta "Veteran" National Development University is the organizer of the 2024 Western Indonesia Region State University Cooperation Agency Symposium. Located at the Aston Hotel Jakarta on Thursday, July 11 2024, this symposium presented 87 participants from various state universities that are members of BKS- PTN Barat. The theme promoted in this consortium is "Management of Lecturers and Curriculum for Vocational and Postgraduate Education Programs."
"This is a forum for us to discuss various issues, one of which is issues surrounding vocation and postgraduate studies," said UPNVJ Chancellor Dr Anter Venus MA, Comm when opening the symposium.
According to Venus, the issue of vocational and postgraduate management in state universities needs to be discussed in more depth because so far there has been no standardization or standard guidelines, both regarding teaching methods and teaching staff.
So far, some PTNs often ask lecturers to teach across strata.
“Lecturers who teach D3 also teach at S1, and even at S2. "So it's not clear which teaching is about theory and which is practical," said Venus.
Through this symposium, the participants discussed and formulated what points were important to pay attention to regarding vocational and postgraduate management in state universities.
Venus said that BKS-PTN Barat encourages vocational and postgraduate management to be "on the right track, on the right orientation."
PTN aspirations
In line with Venus, Chairman of the State Universities Cooperation Agency for the Western Region of Indonesia, Prof. Dr Muryanto Amin S. Sos, M.Si, also emphasized the importance of finding the best formula regarding vocational and postgraduate management within state universities.
According to Muryanto, the two main things related to vocational and postgraduate management issues are human resources, which in this case are lecturers, and the educational model starting from the curriculum to teaching methods.
"There are also things related to substance, such as what kind of authority or expertise the lecturer has. "Then what are the policies like, starting from the study program, faculty, university level, even down to the ministry," said Muryanto.
Later, he continued, the results of this symposium can be formulated and given to the ministry. "That this is the aspiration of the leaders, of the study program managers, and also of the lecturers," said Muryanto.
Demographic Challenges
Director General of Vocational Education, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, Dr. Ir. Kiki Yuliati, M.Sc. also attended the online BKS-PTN West symposium. He appreciated the holding of this symposium, especially UPNVJ as the organizer.
Regarding vocational and postgraduate management, Kiki admits that there are still many things that need to be handled. There are also various challenges ahead, including demographic issues.
According to data from the Ministry of Education and Culture, the projected number of Indonesia's population aged 0-14 years in 2050 tends to decline. Meanwhile, in the same period, the number of people aged 65 years and over increased sharply by 167 percent.
This data shows that Indonesia will also be hit by an aging population, as is currently being experienced by countries such as Japan and South Korea.
"This needs to be understood from now on, that in the future higher education will no longer think of only serving young people," said Kiki.
"It could be that there will be older people who want to continue their higher education. "This is closely related to postgraduate strategy," he continued.
In general regarding the world of education in Indonesia, Kiki said that the government does not differentiate between state and private universities. The government, through the Ministry of Education and Culture, only focuses on providing quality higher education services.
“The government does not see whether it is PTN or PTS. "The most important thing is how Indonesian citizens can get quality lectures," concluded Kiki.