Press Statement of President of the Republic of Indonesia after Inspection of SMKN 2 (State Vocational High School) Palembang, South Sumatra, October 26, 2023

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)

Yes, here I see a vocational high school that is very good and very well prepared. Its workshops and its repair shops, which are used for studying mechanics, automotive engineering, electronics, are all good. In terms of electronics, this school has even won a national level award for robotic engineering. I think this is what vocational schools should do. Moreover, I also see that this school has already established relationships with industries which in turn place orders and give training to the students to improve their skills in industry. I think this is what we have to establish.

And, in the last international competitions, our students won 24 gold medals from 51 gold medals for all existing skills contested. I think this is very good. It means that our human resources have achieved some excellence, and so have their skills. This is what we have to enhance continuously. However, some vocational schools still lack technical equipment and items to hone their students’ skills. This must be improved. Like what we see here, this school already provides combustion cars, but now electric cars are much in trend. Well, this is something that we haven’t yet prepared for, and therefore we provide this school with one electric car.

Journalists

How will they be placed for employment, Sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)

That’s why we are opening up as much investment as possible, because it will absorb the workforce coming from both vocational schools and universities, all will be absorbed by investment. Without investment, it’s useless to prepare superior human resources while there will be no one who will employ them. The key is to create as many job opportunities as possible for our young generations, right?

I think that’s it. Thank you.

(TM/LW)