Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Republic of Namibia, H.E. Wisnu Edi Pratignyo led a virtual meeting between officials of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) of the Republic of Indonesia and the Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation (MHETI) of the Republic of Namibia on 2 March 2023. The aim of the meeting was to discuss areas of potential cooperation between the two ministries in the field of vocational education. The meeting was attended, among others, by the Secretary of the Directorate General of Vocational Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Saryadi, S.T., MBA., Executive Director of MHETI, Dr. Alfred van Kent, Director of Policy and Planning for MHETI, Tuanda Keeja, and representatives from the African Directorate of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ambassador Wisnu hoped that the meeting could bring to fruition the cooperation between Indonesia-Namibia in the field of vocational education sector which will bring a positive impact on the development of human resources in both countries.
In his presentation, Sesditjen Saryadi conveyed information about the development of vocational education in Indonesia. In 2020, the Ministry of Education and Culture formed a Vocational Steering Forum which serves as a forum for representatives from the industry to provide input, coordinate and direct vocational education. he also mentioned that currently in Indonesia there are approximately 14,000 vocational high schools with 5.2 million students, 128 programs with around 10 study areas, including tourism, engineering, arts and culture, information technology, agriculture, business management, mining and construction.
ED MHETI, Van Kent expressed his appreciation to Ambassador Wisnu for the initiative to develop RI-Namibia vocational education cooperation. The development of TVET is a priority for the Government of Namibia, due to its positive impact, among other things, namely reducing youth unemployment and encouraging job creation.
The Indonesian Ambassador suggested that officials from the two ministries could visit each other to find out more and see directly the available and unavailable facilities in the development of the vocational field to identify the scope of cooperation that will be forged in the field of vocational education.
ED MHETI welcomed the Indonesian Ambassador’s suggestion and is ready to host the Ministry of Education and Culture’s delegation when visiting Namibia. ED MHETI also hopes to visit Indonesia to see firsthand the development of vocational schools in Indonesia.
