Indonesian Qualification Framework Current stage of implementation

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Chapter 2 Current stage of implementation

2.1 Indonesian Qualification Framework

As the largest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is also the largest market in the region, making it vulnerable to the potentially uncontrollable influx of foreign workers eager to capitalize on the large employment opportunities. In order to cope with the challenges, immediate actions have to be taken. In the short term, Indonesia needs to establish a National Qualifications Framework NQF and implement it as government policy. In the long run, Indonesia has to improve the quality of its human resources through the implementation of the qualifications framework. In 2012 the Presidential Decree 82012 on the Indonesian Qualification Framework IQF was enacted. The Presidential Decree stipulatesa hierarchy of 9 levels of learning outcomes to enable equivalencingof the outcomes of formal education, non-formal education, and informal learning or work experiences. The Presidential Decree 82012 on the Indonesian Qualification Framework IQF does not describe qualifications but allows further stipulations for the IQF is to be governed by the ‘minister handling labor issues and the minister in charge of education affairs’. The notion of equivalence as illustrated in Figure-1 [DGHE 2012] indicates that the IQF serves as a reference for understanding the complexity of recognized competences in the job structure in all sectors. It also becomes the fundamental reference for defining the competence of graduates of academic, vocational, and professional education against the different levels. The levels of the IQF are described as learning outcomes, consisting of i values, ethics, moral as basic components; ii science, knowledge, or knowhow comprehension; iii work competencies; and iv level of autonomy and responsibility in the work place [DGHE 2012]. PROFESSION SPECIALIST VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL LEARNING PROGRESS IN SKILLS AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT LEARNING PROGRESS IN SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT OCCUPATION OR CAREER UPGRADING BY TRAINING OR THROUGH NON FORMAL EDUCATION 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 9 S3 S2 S1 GENERAL HIGH SCHOOL D4 D3 D2 D1 S3 S2 EXPERT TECHNICIAN ANALYST OPERATOR Figure-1: The Indonesian Qualifications Framework IQF [DGHE 2012] 6

2.2 Assuring quality in higher education