An increased demand for skilled forestry workers over the last years has led to the establishment of Forestry Vocational High Schools (SMKK). This is an encouraging development with SMKKs to become a provider of skilled forestry employees to support the development of Forest Management Units (FMU) in the future. Currently there are five SMKKs under supervision of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and 14 SMKKs (mostly private) under the Ministry of National Education. A challenge faced by the newly established SMKKs is the limited the capacity of its management and teachers. To respond to this demand, the Center of Forestry Education and Training (CFET) of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, in collaboration with GIZ FORCLIME has been conducting capacity building measures for teachers of SMKKs since the beginning of 2014.

Located in the Forestry Education and Training Center (BDK) of Kadipaten in West Java, CFET and FORCLIME conducted a series of capacity building activities for teachers of SMKKs in December 2014, including: (1) Training on strengthening capacities of teachers to be assessors for student competency tests; (2) Comparative study for principals and teachers of SMKKs to Gunung Ceremai National Park and forest product processing industries; and (3) Training on basic geographic information system.

Participants showed great motivation during these trainings and believed that sharing the gained lessons learned will be valuable input for SMKK students when looking for a job after graduation.

For further information, please contact:
Edy Marbyanto, Strategic Area Manager for Human Capacity Development