Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus)featured an associate professor to discuss the development of vocational high schools in Southeast Asia during the New Normal era. The discussion was packaged in the form of a webinar entitled ‘Public Lecture Series.’ It was hosted by the Hotel Management Department at Udinus on Thursday, October 13th, 2022.
The topic was mainly discussed by Prof. Madya Ts. Dr. Asnul Dahar bin Minghat, the Associate Professor Secretary General of the Asian Academic Society for Vocational and Training (AASVET). The webinar, which was themed ‘The Development of Vocational Education in Southeast Asia During The New Normal,’ was hosted through the Zoom Meeting platform. The webinar was participated by 200 people consisting of faculty members and students from the Hotel Management Department, as well as teachers from several hospitality high schools in Semarang.
At the webinar, several figures were also present, including Dr. Raden Arief Nugroho, S.S., M.Hum., (the Dean of the Humanities Faculty), Dr. Dra. Sri Mulatsih, M.Pd., (the Dean of the Humanities Faculty), and Dr. Neni Kurniawati, S.S., M.Hum., (the Department Head of the Hotel Management Program).
During the discussion, the associate professor highlighted the comparison between policies enacted by the governments of Southeast Asia countries. According to him, the pandemic had prevented various practice and internship programs from happening, which was unfortunate as those two aspects were highly necessary for vocational education.
“In vocational education, practice is more important than theory. For that reason, the government needs to enact a new policy so that students do not experience learning loss during this two-year pandemic,” he added.
Furthermore, he added an example of a policy that should be enacted by the government, namely, through a Competitive Fund. This Competitive Fund is particularly aimed at vocational education to further develop the curriculum of various institutions. He revealed that through this policy, all vocational institutions would be able to mark a new beginning.
“This funding policy will allow lecturers or teachers to correlate with their students. This is similar to the Hotel Management Department at Udinus, which received a total of Rp. 318 million fund to develop its vocational curriculum,” the associate professor added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Neni Kurniawati, S.S., M.Hum., (the Head Department of the Hotel Management Program) stated that this webinar was specifically aimed at vocational instructors within Semarang. This would allow them to gain insight into vocational education, which would also lead them to become more skilled in hospitality.
“We routinely host this webinar by featuring speakers of various fields. Hopefully, this webinar will allow the whole academic community and hospitality teachers from Semarang to get further ideas in developing vocational education during the New Normal era,” she concluded.
The webinar also involved Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), with participants showing their enthusiasm through questions. (Humas Udinus/Haris. Foto: Dok. FIB)
