It was a premiere for German standard Dual Vocational Education and Training (DVET) in Indonesia. On November 1, 2018 at ASTRA Manufacturing Polytechnics (Polman ASTRA) in Jakarta, Peter Altmaier, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy and Prijono Sugiarto, President Director of PT ASTRA International Tbk and President of EKONID solemnly awarded the first certificates to students of Polman ASTRA. The 16 students had successfully passed the final examination of the 2,5-year DVET Program in Automotive Mechatronics quality-controlled and certified by EKONID and the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK). During a ceremony jointly organized by ASTRA and EKONID, they received their certificates in the presence of Airlangga Hartarto, Indonesian Minister of Industry, Jan Roennfeld, Managing Director of EKONID and Tony Silalahi, Director of Polman ASTRA as well as delegates of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag), representatives of German companies, German media and the federal ministry accompanying the German Minister on his visit to Indonesia as well as representatives of the Ministry of Industry, local media, the German Embassy located in Jakarta and EKONID. Following the ceremony, Minister Altmaier and his German delegation became acquainted with Polman ASTRA鈥檚 training workshops in automotive, mechanics and robotics and took the opportunity to gather detailed information on the tour in discussion with students about the educational modules and their training experiences.
Minister Altmaier, Minister Hartarto and Mr Sugiarto paid tribute to the results achieved in the frame of the German-Indonesian economic relations up to now and expressed their wishes for a further deepening and enlargement of the bilateral business activities including DVET. Mr Roennfeld highlighted EKONID鈥檚 currently running and planned DVET programs and initiatives in different professions implemented in cooperation with Indonesian vocational schools as well as German companies and Indonesian enterprises doing business with German partners.
Seeing the benefits of the dual system experienced by the German industry, ASTRA had taken the initiative to realize this best practice approach in Indonesia in cooperation with EKONID. The jointly developed 2,5-year DVET Program in Automotive Mechatronics following German standard (Diploma 3 Plus Program according to Indonesian education ranking) had started with a class of 24 students in 2016, the second and final part of the final examination having been conducted by EKONID and ASTRA in October 2018. A recently established new class of 27 students is currently heading for the first part of the final examination in 2019.
EKONID advises companies on the opportunities, contents and procedure of needs-oriented DVET programs and supports them in the preparation, organization and conduct of the training including examination and certification. In each of its programs, EKONID coordinates the cooperation of all stakeholders involved and controls and assures the quality according to the German vocational education standards during the entire process. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), in cooperation with the DIHK, supports EKONID in the implementation of these programs through its 鈥濻kills Experts Program鈥� responding to the increasing interest of German companies in concrete support for a high-quality vocational education based on the German dual system in order to secure future skilled labour force abroad.