SEAMEO BIOTROP conducted a seminar and exhibition on entrepreneurship development in agricultural vocational schools (SMK) on 6-7 December 2018 at its Headquarter in Bogor. This event was attended by 87 students, teachers and principals from various partner agricultural vocational schools of the Centre in Indonesia.

The event was BIOTROP’s support for SEAMEO’s Priority Area on Promoting Technical and Vocational Education particularly agricultural vocational schools. It was intended to help technical and vocational schools, particularly agricultural vocational schools, to produce high quality graduates and enabling them to get a job easily and succeed specifically in the field of entrepreneurship. This is also In line with the Government of Indonesia’s goal of developing more self-reliant and globally competitive citizenry in the era of Industry 4.0.

“We would like to convince the schools that school entrepreneurship is important to ensure sustainability of their operations and serve their students and other stakeholders better towards becoming teaching factories and teaching industries. This activity facilitates vocational schools to share their experiences and knowledge in developing entrepreneurship among their students and teachers because we realize that each schools have different conditions and facilities. By joining this event, all of us can learn together and build a strong linkage with each other,” said BIOTROP Director Dr Irdika Mansur in his opening remarks.

Other than Dr Irdika, the seminar featured Dr Ruli Basuni (Head of Center for Development and Empowerment of Educators and Education Personnel (P4TK) of Agriculture), Dr Ahmad Junaedi (Faculty of Agriculture of Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) lecturer), and Dr Supriyanto (SEAMEO BIOTROP Affiliate Scientist). They delivered the following topics, respectively: 1) Cooperation of SEAMEO BIOTROP and Agricultural Vocational School in supporting entrepreneurship in schools, 2) Role of Agriculture P4TK in encouraging entrepreneurship development in Agricultural Vocational Schools, 3) The mechanism of transfer of agricultural technology from universities and research institutions to Agricultural Vocational Schools, and Seasonal fruit development for teaching industry in Agricultural Vocational Schools.

The Centre also invited principals of SMKS Muhammadiyah 3 Bandung, Mr Ir Agus Kundo Rahayu; SMKN 1 Cibadak, Mr Omit, and SMKS Al Alif Blora, Mr M. Khoerul Amri, SPd, to share their entrepreneurship experiences, focusing on tips and tricks to start entrepreneurship development in Agriculture Vocational Schools, business development of lemon juice and its processed products, and peanut entrepreneurship development. An Entrepreneurship Motivator, Mr Baban Sarbana, and an Agriculture Entrepreneur, Mr Wayan Supadno, also delivered lectures during the seminar on Scaling Up Vocational Entrepreneurs and the Importance of Having Young Agricultural Entrepreneurs in Indonesia through Agricultural Vocational Schools, respectively.

A total of 9 vocational schools displayed their products during the exhibition. They were: 1) SMKN 63 Jakarta, 2) SMKN 1 Pacet, 3) SMKN Pangkalan Kuras, 4) SMK Wikrama, 5) SMKN 1 Cibadak, 6) SMKN 2 Metro, Lampung, 7) SMK Al Alif, 8) SMKN 4 Bogor, and 9) SMKS Muhammadiyah 3 Bandung.

The event’s participants had the chance to tour the facilities and learned about agri-based technologies of BIOTROP such as mushroom cultivation and production, hydroponics, aquaponics, plant nursery and tissue culture, essential oil production, and waste processing into compost.

“In the future, we hope that agricultural vocational schools can maximally utilize the natural potentials of their respective regions and become a source of knowledge and skills for the farmers there,” Dr Irdika concluded.