WLF is an Indonesian-based philanthropic foundation established in 2009 as an outgrow of the philanthropic legacy of William and Lily Soeryadjaya. As an active grant-making foundation, WLF works closely with implementation partners in three focus areas: education, healthcare and economic empowerment. WLF is committed to impactful and responsible interventions in its efforts to empower underprivileged communities across Indonesia. Although the scope of WLF philanthropic endeavors is countrywide, its current geographical focus centres on eastern Indonesia. The William & Lily Foundation is currently looking for Short Term Consultant(s) to conduct Needs Assessment on Early Childhood Education in Sumba Barat Daya
Terms of Reference
Needs Assessment to Support Vocational High Schools in
Southwest Sumba
Background:
Vocational High Schools (SMK) play a crucial role in equipping future and current members of the labor force with the appropriate knowledge and skills. Its main purpose is to address the needs of today’s developed and highly diversified economies by its emphasis on creating a specialized workforce. The focus on skills development has made SMK an increasingly important sector for various ministries in Indonesia, resulting in a signed MoU in late 2016 by five ministers committing to developing and improving the national vocational education system.
In a report published in 2012, McKinsey estimated that Indonesia could face a deficit of 9 million skilled and semi-skilled workers by 2030. In order to address this issue, Indonesia needs to further facilitate education-to-employment transition, demand deficits and skill mismatch more broadly. A further statistic data from BPS (2017) shows the evidence of school-to-work transition, where there is a big fraction of unemployment rate coming from high school graduate rather than diploma/university graduate. High school graduates make up for 47% of the total (open) unemployment in Indonesia compared to university/diploma graduates or primary education graduates, 27.5% and 18.8% respectively. This figure indicates that Indonesia’s economic modernization is leading to stronger demand for more skilled and educated workers.
One of solutions proposed to mitigate this issues is the creation of skilled labor through vocational education. Vocational education are an important catalyst to achieve the national education system’s primary goal of preparing students to become productive and skilled members of the labor force. Vocational education also contributes to reducing poverty with its focus on skills development as it enables. However, there are many challenges that currently face the country’s vocational education system, the most challenging perhaps that there is a disconnect between vocational schools with the respective industries. For the most part, much of the curriculum of vocational schools are theory-based, which results in students graduating with severely inadequate practical knowledge and skills that hinder direct entry to the workforce and thereby defeating the whole purpose of vocational schools.
Based on this reality, WLF is committed to improving access to quality education, particularly vocational education, both formal and informal. We believe that vocational education is particularly crucial in enabling the youth in marginalized communities to grow into independent and self-sufficient individuals.
As an initial step to our commitment to focus on the development of vocational education, WLF will be employing the services of consultants to conduct an assessment on the conditions of vocational education in Southwest Sumba (Sumba Barat Daya / SBD), and what actions have been taken by the state and non-state actors to improve the conditions of vocational education in SBD
Objective:
The objective of this study is to have a better understanding on the overall conditions SMK in Southwest Sumba. Under this study we will be conducting an assessment regarding the local government’s policy towards supporting SMK, how the SMK is currently being managed, the curriculum that the SMK is utilizing, the teaching method that it is employing, and the SMK’s access to industry players and the labor market.
Outputs:
The following outputs must be achieved at the completion of the study:
- An in-depth analysis regarding the national and local policy and/or regulatory framework and the national and local master-plan pertaining to the development of SMK in schools, and how such policy and regulations have been implemented in Southwest Sumba. This will specifically focus on whether the SMK responds to the need of the local industry for productive labor. If such local policy is not available, this study needs to provide recommendation on the policy framework that local governments needs to focus on.
- A detailed analysis of how the SMK is managed in Southwest Sumba, particularly the strategy the school employs in linking the SMK to the local labor market and industry players. If such strategy is not available, the study needs to provide recommendations on how such strategy can be developed.
- A detailed analysis of the capacity of practical teachers as it relates to Southwest Sumba’s industry needs and recommendations on how to improve their capacity.
- A detailed analysis of the teaching methodologies that the school utilizes.
Suggested Methodologies:
- Desk-review of current policy documents from the local and national government, teacher manual, school curriculum and other documents related to SMK.
- In-depth interview with key stakeholders from the local government (Bappeda, Dinas Pendidikan, and etc), teachers, principals, industry players and students.
- Conducting Focus Group discussions with teachers, industry players, students and other relevant stakeholders.
- Other relevant industry that contribute to the achievement of the objective and outputs.
Selection Criteria:
- The consultant(s) must have at least 5 years of experience conducting social research.
- The consultant(s) must have an educational background in research, public policy, and/or education.
- The consultant(s) must have experience in engaging with a variety of stakeholders, particularly students, industry players, and government officials.
- The consultant(s) must have prior experience in working in a multicultural setting and must be sensitive to different cultural practices and values.
Project Duration:
The research will commence in early January and the consultant(s) will be requested to submit their final findings within 3 months.
Document Submission requirements*:
Interested consultant(s) must submit the following documents by December 7, 2018 to support@wlf.or.id:
- A comprehensive proposal containing the context of the SMK in Indonesia and Southwest Sumba and detailed research methodology that the consultant(s) will apply.
- Curriculum Vitae of the consultant(s) which responds to the selection criteria above.
- Work plan of the need assessment, which must also contain the submission and presentation of preliminary and final results of the assessment.
- Comprehensive budget that will fund both the consultant(s) allocated time, and activities to support the assessment.
- A writing sample of the consultant(s)’ previous research work
*The submitted documents can be written in English or Indonesian.
