The Implementation of Transition Planning in Senior and Vocational High Schools to Prepare Future Skillful Workers

Abstraksi

With the current structural demographic change, it has been projected that Indonesia will be the country with the biggest number of productive-age population in Southeast Asia in 2030. This change might cause rapid growth of economy which lead to high demand of qualified workers who are not only skillful but also committed to their works. However, presently there is tendency for young workers to frequently change their career paths which could be translated into low job commitments. Indeed, the cause of the phenomenon could not be identified straightforwardly because of its complexity nature. Regardless, one factor which may contribute to the occurrence of the phenomenon is the lack of career development advise provided by senior and vocational high schools. Hence, many students have limited knowledge about post schooling options and study major they are not interested in university or college. As result, they often end up doing the job they are not passionate about. To help solving the problem, transition planning which is an evidence-based practice in special education field, can be implemented in high schools in Indonesia. It is because transition planning not only can help students with special needs but also those from typical population to plan their future better, so they can have seamless transition to their post schooling life. Furthermore, transition planning will offer students with intensive career development advise. Due to that, students will be exposed to different post schooling options such as diploma, university or apprenticeship. Therefore, they can choose the best option which fit their passion and strengths. Consequently, in the future, the students can be skillful workers in different sectors who have high commitment to their job and ready for the challenges cause by economy growth in Indonesia.