DENPASAR, Bali (BPN) – The Education, Youth, and Sports Office (Disdikpora) of Bali is ready to hold SMK Fest, a festival for vocational schools, which will be attended by thousands of students in Bali. The event that will be held at the Art Center, Denpasar, on 20 – 22 March 2024, targets to be a link between vocational school and the business world.
In addition, the event is also to be developed as educational tourism and is planned to invite foreign tourists and, expat especially foreign teachers who work in Bali.
According to I Gusti Ngurah Crisna Adijaya, Head of the Vocational School Development Division of Disdikpora Bali, this event is inspired by the 1st Indonesia Vocational Link and Match which was held by Stekom University Semarang and the Top Loker application last year, to bridge the industrial world with vocational schools throughout Indonesia.
This was followed up by holding an SMK Fest at the regional level in six regions in Bali on 29 – 31 January 2024, with a total of 25 thousand visitors and recorded transactions reaching IDR 147 million from sales of participating MSMEs.
For this reason, the upcoming SMK Fest at the Art Center will invite 150 vocational schools in Bali where students will meet employers.
“We are holding an event aimed at developing vocational schools in Bali. This activity has been well received by entrepreneurs because it benefits both parties, where it will be easier for employers to find qualified talent to recruit,” he said on Tuesday (Feb. 20).
Crisna Adijaya admits that currently, the tourism sector is still the most popular job in Bali. However, his party wants to change the paradigm that in the tourism industry there are only hotels and culinary.
“We want to shift the paradigm that the pillars of tourism are only hotels and culinary. Other departments such as engineering, art, and even agriculture are also important for tourism. We want to promote majors related to tourism,” he explained.
This event also involves Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which during the festival at the regional level provided many benefits for students.
“The regional level SMK Fest succeeded in honing students’ abilities in developing skills, one of which was marketing, where at that time through various MSME products they managed to earn hundreds of millions,” he said.
He added this activity will also be enlivened with 50 competitions, and then there is an exhibition of custom motorbikes made by students, in terms of sports, the event will invite the skateboarding community and other modern sports.
