For Indonesia’s vocational schools in creative fields like Visual Communication Design (DKV) and animation, this gap is becoming more urgent. Industry standards shift as fast as content trends and software ecosystems, where a five-year curriculum refresh is unlikely to catch up. As the Director of Vocational High School Arie Wibowo Khurniawan puts it, “Five-year alignment cycles are no longer enough. Change accelerates exponentially, and we may need to revisit our alignment more often.” His statement triggers a simple question that many of us ask: How do you close a gap that never stops moving?
This is where Swisscontact, through the Swiss Skills for Competitiveness (SS4C) programme, steps in. Funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), it brings a systemic rethink. SS4C bridges how education and industry work together through an Industry-Based Curriculum (IBC) within a dual Vocational Education and Training (dVET) system. A continuous effort to bring industry into the core of how education is designed and delivered. And it is already in motion.
Since November 2025, four vocational schools under the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE), namely SMK Bina Nusa Mandiri Jakarta, SMK Muhammadiyah 2 Andong, SMK Negeri 1 Masbagik, and SMK Pembangunan Bogor, have gone through the full process of aligning their DKV and animation programmes with industry needs. Not theoretically, nor loosely. But systematically structured and in collaboration.
Traditionally, curriculum design starts from within the education system. IBC flips the thinking, emphasizing it to begin with Industry Occupation Analysis. Providing a deep dive into what professionals actually do, and facilitated by trained experts, this phase embraces practitioners such as graphic designers, animators, and creative professionals from partner companies, to map out real-world tasks and competencies. The outcome shows a clear picture of the job itself, though the uncomfortable truth remains, “If we do not start with what the job demands, we risk teaching everything except what matters,” says Windi Mudriadi, an IBC Facilitator.
Next comes Course Design. At the school level, identified tasks and competencies are translated into curriculum structures. In companies, they become the basis of structured vocational learning plans that align theories in class with practices in the workplace. At this stage, differences between existing classroom content and real industry practice become apparent and are addressed through several alignments. The process then moves into Teaching Material Development. Schools develop both theory and practical modules, while industry partners craft structured internship materials, synchronized to build a seamless learning journey.
The answer is as strategic as it is sustainable: actively build and engage a growing pool of industry-based curriculum facilitators. These certified facilitators are enablers, equipped to guide schools and institutions through the transformation of becoming more industry-relevant. Under the supervision of BPSDMI of the Ministry of Industry, they serve as a network of knowledge supporting the expansion of industry-aligned education across institutions, and stand as a true testament that real impact means the ability to replicate solutions beyond a programme’s presence.
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