President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has announced the composition of his new cabinet. He wants this new head of ministers to be more solid than before. Jokowi said that currently Indonesia is facing big challenges, e.g. Poverty, employment and economy discrepancy. Furthermore, outside Indonesia, we also faced a global economy challenge which is highly competitive.

There are 13 the transferred and newly appointed ministers. Two of them are:
1. Minister of Finance: Sri Mulyani
2. Minister of Education and Culture (Mendikbud): Prof. Muhadjir Effendy

Prof. Muhadjir Effendy is the newly appointed Mendikbud, replacing Anies Baswedan. He is the former rector of the University of Muhammadiyah Malang. The new Mendikbud said that he will continue the programs of his predecessor. He also said that there was no change in the structure in the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud). According to him, continuing the programs of the previous Mendikbud is the main priority.

The minister promises to strengthen the vocational high school in Indonesia. Muhadjir believes that education is a key to enter a working life and people need skills to be able to be qualified human. “My speciality is on secondary education of skilled labor, so I think I would emphasize to this field in formal and non-formal school e.g. SMK (vocational high school).” said Muhadjir.

Source:
• http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2016/07/27/12461051/jokowi.ingin.kabinet...
• http://news.detik.com/berita/3263216/mendikbud-muhadjir-akan-perkuat-sek...
• ‘Mendikbud Baru Janji Lanjut Program Anies’ Suara Pembaruan, p. 17, 29 July 2016

Commentary by Lisa Wilianto, British Council Indonesia, SIEM Programme Manager, lisa.wilianto@britishcouncil.or.id

The newly appointed minister of Ministry of Finance, Sri Mulyani, was the one who initiated LPDP scholarships a few years ago during her previous appointment as the minister. Changes in the ministry might have an impact in current policy, however up until now there hasn’t been any official amendment relating to the policy, or specifically the LPDP scholarships.

Meanwhile for the recent updates for vocational education in Indonesia, recently German won contract for it. For further information, please click http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/06/20/indonesia-to-start-10-voca...

President Joko Widodo has committed to improve vocational education in Indonesia and this is an opportunity for UK Institutions to explore the possibility of partnership with vocational education institutions in Indonesia.