Australia Awards in Indonesia

The Australia Awards are prestigious, transformational scholarships and short courses offered to emerging leaders for study, research and professional development in Australia

08 May 2018

From Vocational Students to Entrepreneurs in Aceh and Papua Barat

Project Leader: Gracia Billy Mambrasar

University: The Australian National University

Lead Organisation: Kitong Bisa

Collaborating Organisations: Kitong Bisa, AIST IT Solution Company, Atmajaya Catholic University

Project Location : Fakfak (Papua Barat) and Lhokseumawe (Aceh)           

Activity Type : Capacity building, mentoring or coaching               

Sector : Human Resource Development

Project Objectives :

  • To increase knowledge among vocational students of utilizing IT to do business
  • To increase knowledge and use among these students of e-commerce platforms for selling local products nationally and internationally
  • To facilitate the transfer of knowledge entrepeneurship and innovation of Indonesians and Australians to underprivileged Indonesian students
  • To enhance people-to-people links between Australians and Indonesians at grassroots level

Project Description :

Kitong Bisa is an education, human development and social entrepreneurship consultant, which will deliver a training project called "From Students to Entrepreneurs." The project is an intensive boot-camp in technology, entrepreneurship and capacity building. It is a 3-day training course suited to the needs of vocational students in Politeknik Fakfak, Papua Barat, and Politeknik Lhokseumawe, Aceh. The course focuses on utilizing IT to do business, and has modules in incubating, marketing, selling, packaging and shipping. It introduces vocational school graduates to e-commerce platforms to introduce, promote and sell local products nationally or overseas. The course allows Indonesian Australian Alumnis, and 6 Australians, to transfer their knowledge in IT, entrepreneurship and innovation to 200 students. This will enhance people-to-people relationships between the two countries, particularly at the grassroots level.

Project Beneficiaries :

Direct beneficiaries include 200 vocational students in Papua Barat and Aceh who attend the 3-day training course on utilizing IT to do business. They also include local entrepreneurs whose products will be sold using the e-commerce platform. Indirect beneficiaries include local communities and local governments who will see their products promoted and their incomes grow.

Priority Development Area : Human development for a productive and healthy society               

Social Inclusion Priorities : Youth

Links with Australia :

The project has links with Australia through Australia Alumni. Six members of Kitong Bisa’s advisory board are alumni and two members are Australian. In a previous workshop,“Talk with Indonesian Heroes,” five speakers were Australian Alumni who took part in the Transformational Business Leaders Program. This project will use an Australian and Indonesian as trainers. The project will try to sell the local products such as crafts, painting or coffee from Aceh and Papua to Australia through business youth-driven online platforms.

Relevant Facts :

Aceh and Papua Barat are the two provinces with the highest unemployment rate in Indonesia – 7.46 and 7.57 respectively, while the national average is 5.61. The government has focused on vocational education as a way to increase workforce participation, but vocational school graduates and high school graduates are the biggest contributors to the jobless rates in the two provinces.

Publication :

https://www.indorelawan.org/activity/59150a5016e5433a500a3f17

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