In this era, animation is one of the most demanding industry, as there are lots of animation demands for entertainment tools such as movies in the cinema and television, promotion, and branding in various global companies.

This year, Indonesia, as the center of the biggest animation creative industry in Southeast Asia, is demanded to be able to provide a creative workforce of animation. Garin Nugroho worked on the first 3D animation in Indonesia in GangsarWaskito studio (2004).

Gangsar Waskito immediately went viral and prompted many requests to create a similar animation. This has encouraged the rise of animation schools, such as Hello Motion Academy which was founded by Wahyu Aditya in 2004. Aditya has a long list of experience in the animation world, organizing the Hello Fest event, which is immediately claimed to be the benchmark for the development of animation in Indonesia.

Next, another Animation Academy was founded in 2011 in Surabaya, with various study programs such as graphic design, product design, interior design, multimedia software, and animation. Not wanting to lose, PT. Telkom Tbk founded an animation school through the Indigo Fellowship program. There are several classes, each classes consisting of four students with one mentor. They didn't only learn about animation, but learn how to be an entrepreneur in the creative industry. Andre Surya, one of Digital Artists of Indonesia who was once involved in the Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) for Lucas Film Singapore program was a mentor for this program. Espire School of Digital Art (ESDA) consists of 2D Digital Painting, 3D Fundamental Course, and 3D Animations.

Back then, the International Design School (IDS) was founded in 1999. It is the first animation academy in Indonesia. This academy offers advanced college, bachelor programs, and holiday programs. During the holiday, students are asked to attend CBC or Creative Boot Camp, by learning about animation, design, and film.

However, not all animation schools located in Jakarta. There is also a Vocational School in Kudus, Raden Umar Said Vocational School which was founded in 2015 with financial support from Djarum Foundation, as a part of its CSR program.

They didn’t build the school but rather supported them in the form of funds and animation equipment, as they’ve done with a lot of other Vocational Schools in Kudus and its surrounding areas.

Specifically for Animation Vocational School, the equipment costed Rp 30 billion in total, as they are advanced animation equipment used by animation schools in Singapore, Philippines, and Japan.

Through a rigorous entrance test, 26 talented children were selected to become animation operators. In three years, 25 students graduated, 18 of them immediately worked in Kudus and other surrounding cities in Java. By 18 years old, they’ve worked with Astra Toyota, BCA and cartoon film producers in Singapore and Malaysia.

Upin & Ipin is the most popular animated film in a local Indonesian TV station, MNC TV. The production was made by RUS Vocational School graduates. Upin & Ipin are interesting cases. The production costs per episode is roughly around Rp 2 Billion. Nevertheless, this program aired on an Indonesian TV station for Rp 40 Million. Why it is so cheap? Because the government gave a 50% subsidy for each episode, meanwhile 30% of them were supported by Upin &Ipin merchandise sales such as dolls, text books images, school bags, and t-shirts. Thus, the producers only pay 10% of all productions costs of Upin&Ipin’s animated film. Upin & Ipin aired in 12 different Asian and African countries.

The sponsors not only helped the Animation Vocational School, but also other vocational schools such as Engineering Vocational School, Maritime Vocational School, Culinary Vocational School, and Fashion Vocational School. The most desired after graduates are from the Department of Engineering, as an average of 95% of all students got a job within three months before their final exam and received an average salary nine times the minimum wage.

Fashion Graduates are also in high demandas their students are not only taught about sewing, but they were also taught to design fashion and they are figuring out what design trends will hit within the next two to three years.

The graduates are then sent to many countries including Japan, Hongkong, and Malaysia. The last achievement was when the Fashion Vocational School sent its graduates to France. Two of them are the fashion designers and the other two were make-up artists. For a week in a prestigious fashion show in France, they worked as fashion designers and makeup artists. The models who appeared on the show were very satisfied with their services.

Supporting Vocational Schools in Indonesia is the right choice. There are 14.000 Vocational Schools in Indonesia, but the majority of them only train and provide basic skills, especially in agriculture and animal husbandry.

What they did in Kudus is more about the efforts of its graduates to have a better resume and thus are immediately able to enter the workforce upon graduation. For example, in the Maritime Department, the graduates can immediately work or even become a captain for smaller vessels <5.000 DWT. To work for bigger vessels, they will needa two-year working experience as an able-bodied seaman plus a six-month short course. After that, they willbe promoted to thirdofficer and could work on ships> 5,000 DWT.

Another example is the Fashion Vocational Schools. They have the skills and capacities to become a fashion designer. At the moment, modest wear is on-trend –polite clothes for women. Big brands such as Valentino, Prada, Louis Vuitton have produced this modest wear for the largest scale. Indonesia being a majority Muslim country have the potential to becomethe “Mecca” of Muslim fashion in the world.

The graduates of the Fashion Department will become a pioneer in developing Indonesia as the center of Muslim fashion in the world. Bukalapak, Blibli, and other various online markets have facilitated the sales of Muslim fashion in many countries.

In 2017, at the Sakura Collection Asian Student Awards 2018 held a Competition.From 100 finalists, Nahdatul Ulama BANAT Vocational School succeeded in taking the 1st place with Nia Faradiska who showed her collection themed “Koinobori”. From the same school, Farah Aurellia succeeded to become the runner-up with her collection “Kyoto”. Nia Faradiska seized the opportunity to travel to Japan for an internship at Bunka Fashion College; the sixth-best fashion school in the world.

The leading Vocational Schools have been changed into Specialized Vocational Schools that are adjusted for market needs such as Fashion, Engineering, Gas Pipe, Culinary, Robotic, and Beauty & Spa Vocational School with the hopes of breaking through the scarcity of middle-class skilled workers required by Indonesia for the next 5 to 10 years ahead.

There are 14.000 Vocational Schools in Indonesia. Big companies are needed to help in the form of practice equipment, high quality teachers, and networks to work in skilled markets in various types of businesses. In the end, the company will enjoy fulfilling the skilled labor demanded in the job markets.

Source detik.com