Dean of the Faculty of Vocational Studies Prof Ir Muhammat Sigit Darmawan MEngSc PhD

ITS Campus, ITS News – For the admission of new students in 2021, the selection of applied undergraduate or vocational programs is officially managed by Lembaga Tes Mauk Perguruan Tinggi (LTMPT). With this new policy, starting this year, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) also opens opportunities for prospective students to continue their higher education to the Faculty of Vocational (FV) ITS through three selection pathways.

Dr. Siti Machmudah ST MEng, Director of Education of ITS said, the choice of this selection path is the same as the mechanism of admission pathways for undergraduate programs. The three admission paths are Seleksi Nasional Masuk Perguruan Tinggi Negeri (SNMPTN) with a quota of 20 percent, Seleksi Bersama Masuk PTN (SBMPTN) with a quota of 30 percent, and the rest is Seleksi Kemitraan dan Mandiri  (SKM). “Total capacity for SNMPTN as much as 176, SBMPTN as much as 264, and SKM as much as 440 students,” she explained.

Regarding the change in the policy of this selection mechanism, Dean of FV ITS Prof Ir Muhammad Sigit Darmawan MEngSc Ph.D. also welcome this. According to him, Forum Pendidikan Tinggi Vokasi Indonesia (FPTVI) has long championed this change. “The proposal was only approved by the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) in 2021 along with the establishment of the Directorate General of Vocational Education,” explained the professor who commonly called Sigit.

Sigit considered the policy as a form of equality between Undergraduate and Vocational Education. Previously, the selection for vocational education is generally carried out separately after the undergraduate education selection. So, that many participants choose vocational because they had to and became their last resort, not because of awareness from the beginning. “Therefore, the selection simultaneously makes the participants must have decided the choice according to their passion and not because of compulsion,” he said.

Because of that, the Professor of Civil Infrastructure Engineering ITS, assessed that indirectly, with this new system, the quality of vocational students will also be better than when the selection is in the end after the undergraduate test. “Besides, the SNMPTN and SBMPTN schemes provide the possibility for FV ITS to get prospective students from all over Indonesia which is rather difficult to do when using the old scheme,” he said.

To minimize confusion over the selection mechanism changes. The acceptance criteria with the SNMPTN, SBMPTN, and SKM schemes will not be different from the requirements used through the 2020 Vocational program admission system. For SNMPTN, the criteria are almost close. The same as the achievement path criteria carried out in the 2020 vocational selection, namely using the participant’s score and achievements.

Total Number of Students Capacity of the Faculty of Vocational Studies ITS on 2021 on available three pathways

Sigit said the criteria for SBMPTN are almost the same as the regular in the selection of Vocational programs in the previous year. Using Computer-Based Writing Test (UTBK) results as the main criteria. “Similarly, the SKM line is almost the same criteria as the independent in the last year, using UTBK results as the main criteria,” explained the lecturer familiarly with glasses.

Thus, the more open opportunities for prospective new students to study at ITS require SMA/ MA/SMK/MAK (High School) graduates recognize their passions before choosing a study program. For those who prefer practical things, then the right choice is its Vocational program, which has a curriculum structure with the industry. “So that graduates are expected to be directly absorbed by the industry. One of them is with the obligation of industrial internship activities for one semester,” he said.

It’s needed to know that, the study program at FVITS only accepts high school / MA graduates majoring in science and SMK / MAK graduates from majors relevant to the intended study program. This refers to the Regulation of the Director-General of Primary and Secondary Education No. 06/D.D5/KK/2018 dated June 7, 2018, concerning the Spectrum of Vocational High School Expertise (SMK)/ Madrasah Aliyah Kejuruan (MAK).

FV ITS has eight study programs to choose from, namely Manufacturing Engineering Technology, Water Building Construction Engineering Technology, Energy Conversion Engineering Technology, Building Management, and Maintenance Engineering Technology, Industrial Chemical Engineering Technology, Instrumentation Technology Engineering, Automation Engineering Technology, and Business Statistics. (tri/pan/ITS Public Relations)