Inspirational Tourism Vocational School Teacher Capacity Building Workshop
Writer: Agustina Purnami Setiawi, Programme Officer Field Office Sumba
Editor: Firra Kholisha Mustika, Communication
There are still minimal productive teachers at Tourism Vocational Schools with expertise in hospitality and tourism service businesses in Sumba. So it requires increased competence in teaching.
DESMA Center held a workshop to increase the capacity of inspirational tourism vocational high school teachers on October 24 2024, at SMKS Pancasila Tambolaka. This activity was attended by 5 (five) productive teachers from two departments, namely hotels & restaurants and tourism service businesses (ULP).
"Effective teaching requires a deep understanding of the material and self-confidence," said Boyke, the resource person for the activity.
Tourism vocational schools in Sumba still lack productive teachers who are competent to teach skill competency subjects. Most of them have adaptive and/or normative teacher backgrounds. Only less than 25 percent have certification or direct experience in the tourism sector. This makes learning more theoretical and less applicable (Provincial Education Performance Report, NTT Bappeda, 2020).
Program Manager Field Office Sumba DESMA Center, Mr. Boyke Hutapea introduced the educational system learning approach in Finland, which focuses on student happiness and well-being. This is different from the Indonesian education system which prioritizes academic achievement. Apart from that, there are challenges in improving the quality of national education, namely Indonesia's low ranking in the PISA assessment in the field of literacy and numeracy.
Through the presentation of the learning approach presented by the DESMA Center, it is hoped that it will be able to increase the insight of teachers and management of Tourism Vocational Schools to adopt appropriate curriculum and teaching methods. The hotel industry and tourism service businesses offer quality services to tourists. Therefore, students' happiness and welfare need to be considered. Apart from that, mastery of literacy and numeracy is very necessary as a basis for the operationalization of the hotel industry and tourism service businesses.
Inspirational Tourism Vocational School Teacher Capacity Building Workshop is part of Program TVET for Sustainable Tourism Development in Sumba which is implemented by the DESMA Center.
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The TVET for Sustainable Tourism Development in Sumba program is supported by MISEREOR/KZE; implemented by the DESMA Center. Strengthening the Capacity of Tourism Human Resources aims to realize "a tourism vocational school education program in Sumba to meet the needs and requirements of the tourism industry, thereby offering better job opportunities for young people and supporting sustainable tourism in Sumba."
This program includes strengthening (1) Management capacity of tourism vocational schools in line with the independent curriculum and the concept of sustainable tourism; (2) Teacher capacity in pedagogical knowledge, about teaching and sustainable tourism (3) Tourism Vocational School-Tourism Industry Partnership; and (4) Students' entrepreneurial capacity in creating a sustainable tourism business.
The direct beneficiaries of this program are (1) Pancasila Vocational School – Tambolaka, Southwest Sumba; (2) SMK Negeri 2 Tambolaka City, Southwest Sumba; (3) Bakti Luhur Vocational School – Tambolaka, Southwest Sumba; (4) Efata Vocational School - Omba Rade, Southwest Sumba; and (5) Waikabubak State Vocational School 1, West Sumba. The direct partners of this program are (1) East Nusa Tenggara Province Education & Culture Office; (2) Southwest Sumba Regency Government; (3) West Sumba Regency Government; (4) Southwest Sumba Regency Tourism Office; and (5) West Sumba Regency Tourism Office.
