Indonesia
English
On Thursday, 21 April 2022, at the Hotel Atlet Century Jakarta, the Director of Politap, accompanied by the Head of the Department of Informatics Engineering and Information Systems Lecturer-Developer Arrazy Muhammad, attended a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) on the implementation of Project Based Learning (PBL) in Vocational Higher Education Institutions. The event was attended by the Director General of Vocational Education Wikan Sakarinto, Director of Academic Affairs for Vocational Higher Education Beny Bandanadjaja, the Director of Politap, the Director of Polibatam, and vice directors of state polytechnics across Indonesia.
According to Director of Academic Affairs for Vocational Higher Education Beny Bandanadjaja, this event was held in the framework of implementing the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) Link & Match policy, which requires industry involvement across all aspects of vocational education delivery, including real project-based learning from the workplace designed to ensure hard skills are complemented by soft skills and strong character; as such, this event served as a forum to align perceptions regarding Project Based Learning. Meanwhile, Director General of Vocational Education Wikan Sakarinto stated that higher education is undergoing transformation, marked by Merdeka Belajar, underscoring the importance of soft skills and hard skills, a solid higher education foundation over two semesters for PBL, developing independent learning character, interaction among lecturers, students, and industry, as well as internships aligned with Kampus Merdeka. Meanwhile, resource speaker and Director of Politeknik Negeri Batam Uuf Bradjawidagda presented the PBL framework implemented at Politeknik Negeri Batam, which was subsequently adopted at Politeknik Negeri Ketapang (Ketapang State Polytechnic). During this event, several points were agreed upon to provide input to the Directorate of Vocational Education regarding the formulation of PBL implementation standards in polytechnics.