General issues in RPL RPL in higher education

11 iii Special Standard. The NCS is developed based on the guidelines stipulated in the MoMT Regulation 122007 later revised by the MoMT as Regulation 82012. The development of a NCS involves MoM, other relevant technical Ministries, and the Committees of Competency Standard. Competency Based Training is a training approach that includes modules, training aids, methods, and instructors. The approach aims to apply competency-based standards and implement principles to ensure a graduate acquires competencies as required by the NCS, and to be eligible to receive the Certificate of Competency. Unfortunately the current SISLATKERNAS does not include graduates from formal education, i.e. higher education institutions and vocational high schools. By the end of 2014, 406 packages of competency standards SKKNI have been developed in the main economic sectors, as illustrated in Table-3. The number of SKKNI to be developed yet is still very large, considering the rapid advancement of technology. Jobs in information and communication technology as well as logistics are only a few examples of new occupations in the market that require definitions of competency standards. In order to achieve the government target of 10 million certified workers in 2019, a significant number of additional packages are needed in the near future. Sector Number of standards Agriculture 56 Mining and energy 52 Manufacturing 54 Construction 108 Tourism Culture 56 Services Others 80 TOTAL 406 Table-3: Distribution of packages of competency standards developed by sector until 2014 [BNSP 2014] Competency-based programs administered by MoEC had been in operation for some time prior to the issuing of the IQF Decree. Therefore, their structure has to be adjusted to comply with the IQF. The learning outcomes also need adjustment, particularly in shifting the emphasis from education to skills formation. Table-4 presents courses under MoEC that have been adjusted to comply with the IQF. Acupuncture Driver Housekeeping Skin Cosmetics Accountancy Piano Japanese Language Chinese Medicine Aerobic Secretary Foot Reflexology Tax management Baby Sitting Fashion Design Master of Ceremony TV Broadcasting Bridal Saloon Florist Motorcycle Mechanics TV Cameraman Spa Hair Dressing Embroidery Patchwork Video Editing Dried Florist Culinary Export Import Adm. Wedding Decoration Table-4: Programs under MoEC with IQF referred qualifications [MoEC 2015]

2.4 Recognition of Prior Learning

2.4.1 General issues in RPL

The issues in Recognition of Prior Learning RPL development and implementation can be categorized into two sectors, as elaborated in the following section. Education sector: • Lifelong learning: providing wider access to education; • Upskilling knowledge and skills: facilitates continuation of adult education and training for people who already in work; and 12 • Accommodate diversity of quality in education: disseminate quality equivalence among RPL providers, whereby IQF can be used as a common language to gauge quality, and integrate QA to develop trust and confidence of the program. Skills sector: • Improving job qualifications and competence: support recognition of in-house training, work based in industries and relevant training providers, using IQF as a guidelines; • Career development program: recognize informal or experiential learning of individual employee, hence increase opportunity to distinguish individual achievement and competency based outcomes; and • Recruitment system: recognize different competencies obtained through formal, informal, and non formal pathway, as well as professional certification outside the workplace.

2.4.2 RPL in higher education

In Indonesia a common conversion model is implemented by recognizing a student’s previous academic standing by the receiving institution. In its current practice this type of RPL like may be closely categorized as a credit earning model. Some common characteristics of the practiced procedure can be identified as follows, • credit transfer is applicable for courses with the same title and curricula, offered by the same kind of study program; • the number of credits transferred should not exceed 70 of the total credit earned in the previous study program; and • a ‘conversion program’ is mandatory in the receiving private institutions and they choose only students originated from institutions with higher quality status. This RPL-like practice is not officially termed as RPL and is only adopted by individual institutions. In a similar manner, conversion programs from the vocational to academic stream, mostly from D3 to S1 programs, are also commonly conducted among institutions. This recognition model can also be categorized as an ‘unofficial’ RPL-like process since the characteristics of learning in the D3 program are much different compare to S1. In most cases the receiving institutions conduct local assessment to determine the total credit and courses could be transferred to the S1 pro.

2.4.3 RPL initiatives