Indonesia has set its ambitions to become a high-income country by its centenary in 2045, which will only be achieved through inclusive and sustainable economic growth, driven by competitive industries with appropriately skilled workers.

The Skills for Prosperity Programme in Indonesia, funded by UK Government, sets out to improve skills development policies and systems to respond effectively to the skills demands with a focus on the growing maritime sector; taking targeted action in promoting skills for employment and decent jobs for young women and men, including disadvantaged groups. This initiative fully aligns with the Indonesian Government’s objectives to strengthen the national TVET system, which is articulated through Presidential Decree No.68 Year 2022 on Revitalization of Vocational Education and Vocational Training, and subsequent National Vocational Strategy (Stranas Vokasi), published through Regulation No. 6 Year 2022 by the Coordinating Ministry of Human Resources and Culture (CMHRC).

As an island nation, the maritime sector has a critical bearing on Indonesia’s economic performance and has been identified as a priority sector by government in the Global Maritime Fulcrum master plan in 2014. The maritime sector also been selected as a focus for this project due to the UK’s expertise and reputation in this field. The programme has been designed with the objective of improving the equity, quality, and relevance of the skills system in this sector through partnerships and interventions supporting the development of centers of excellence through four Indonesian polytechnic partners.

Each polytechnic is based in a different province and is implementing a new D4 Study Programme in a different subsector of the maritime industry as shown below. Each polytechnic has been supported through the development of local Industrial Advisory Boards to ensure relevance with the needs of employers, and through the establishment of an international higher education partner, selected to help raise the quality of provision toward international standards.