INTEGRATION OF SOFT SKILLS IN THE PRACTICAL

LEARNING FOR THE INDUSTRY RELATED

JOB PREPAREDNESS

Siti Mariah
 BACKGROUND
1. The unemployment rate of August 2008 was, based on the educational
background, largely dominated by the graduates of Vocational High
School (SMK’s) of 17.26 percent (BPS, 2008)
2. The job opportunities offered by the work force markets were yet to be
fulfilled because the existing graduates were not fully absorbed in the
work markets (Dedi, 2002)
3. The responses to the questionnaire of the study of the garment
industries to the soft skills of the SMK graduates were 2.23 in average
score categorized as low (survey, 2010)
4. Asean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) and Asean Free Labor Agreement
(AFLA) that gives impact on the demand of human resources with the
capacity of performing the production system in line with the market
development to be survival in the global trade.
Why Soft Skills Integrating in the practical learning?

COMPONENT OF SUCCESS OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM

20% Softskills

10
Hardskills

90
80%

0 20 40 60 80 100
Technical Mindset

Figure 1 Figure 2
Percentage of soft skills as success Portion of soft skills provided in
component the educational system

(Source: Neff and Citrin, 1999)

 Analysis of soft skills gap between the needs of the workforce in
industry and the vocational learning outcomes
Work System in Garment Industry Gap Learning Process at Vocational High
School
Production process is continuous line Cooperation Practical learning is individual with one-
flow so that each operation is Communication - way communication from the teachers to
dependent to each other Leadership the students
+ Discipline
Using fundamental principle of lean Responsibility The K3 concept is theoretical and not
manufacturing concept that is Kaizen Careful applied yet consistently in
(succinct, neat, clean, treated, Honest - the practical learning
diligent) and secure + Mental endurance
Competitiveness
Industrial and trade competition will Tough Work result measurement is based on
always refers to six determinant factors: Adaptive value factors for academic achievement
price, quality, design (taste), delivery Enthusiastic
time, marketing and services. Mental endurance -
Measurement of work quality on two + Fighting spirit Work result quality for academic
basis: good (accepted) and poor Competitiveness achievement
(rejected). The acceptance of product mental endurance
quality influences selling price, if failed
will be lost. -
Production process uses specification
+Responsive Careful Practical learning not using work sheet.
sheet Thorough Teacher explains assignments orally, and
Fighting spirit students work them out by guessing

-
+
Based on the data can be analyzed that implications of the soft skills development in the
industry-based practical learning can be seen below:

Components Modeling Facilitation Supervision Simulation Evaluation

Quality Time study Observation

Content
control of work
KAIZEN LKS behavior
Motivator

Inquiring
Spreading
Process Modeling
Role-play

Goals Industry-based
work characters

Integration of Soft Skill Development in Practical Learning

 Conclusion

1. The Vocational High School (VHS) defines the soft skill attributes to be developed
in the next 5 years based on the market signals, that is the opinions of the users of
the graduates and the alumni;
2. The SMK identifies the soft skill attributes that the learners have acquired and
those are to be developed in terms of the work demands targeted by the graduates
through the observation of the students’ behaviors in the learning process and
self-evaluation done by the students themselves;
3. The care and commitment by the teachers at the Vocational High School (SMK) in
developing their students’ soft skills by considering the work system (production)
adopted in work field (industry) to be applied in the learning process;
4. The Vocational High School (VHS) revises the traditional learning process by the
application of the useful learning model in enabling the learners to get
comprehensive understanding of the subject matters they study by relating them
to the daily life context personal, social and cultural in a real and authentic way.
5. Undertaking the planned and evaluated-learning activities that may develop the
students’ soft skills in accordance with the work (industry) requirements in which
the teachers take the role as models through inuring, role-playing and spreading in
the practical learning process.
Soft Skills = Success Skills