Dominant Factors of the Knowledge Competency of Vocational High

School Students According to the Need of Construction Services

Rolly R. Oroh

Faculty of Engineering, Manado State University, Indonesia

Keywords: Relevance of Student Knowledge, Vocational Education, Construction Services, Concrete Construction,

Shallow Foundation Construction, Students Knowledge Competency.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to find out the dominant factors of the knowledge competency of Vocational

High School (VHS) students in carrying out shallow foundation construction work that was under the needs

of construction services. Respondents of this study were VHS students in North Sulawesi Province,

Indonesia. The instrument of this research is a test instrument on work knowledge competencies given to

students as respondents, with three work indicators, namely preparation of locations, preparation of

foundation profiles, and implementation of foundation construction work. Data analysis using factor

analysis techniques with the principal component analysis method and the rotation process used the varimax

method. The results of this study indicate that there are two dominant factors in students' knowledge

competency in carrying out shallow foundation construction work that fits the needs of construction

services. The first factor is the knowledge factor of the technical specifications of the foundation, and the

second factor is the knowledge factor of the foundation pair profile. The contribution of this study is to

show data as a result of research on the dominant factors of work knowledge competency of VHS students

who have conformity with the needs of construction services.

1 INTRODUCTION

Data on Indonesian workforce as of August 2018

shows that the open unemployment rate according to

education is dominated by graduates of Vocational

High Schools (VHS), which are 11.24% or 7 million

of the total open unemployment (BPS RI, 2018).

Furthermore, the 2018 data on employment in the

construction sector requires 8.3 million people, and

of that amount around 80% or 6.64 million people

should be filled by VHS graduates, and only around

20% or 1.66 million people are filled by college

graduates as experts (Kementerian PUPR, 2019).

Data on labour requirements in the construction

work sector shows that there are great opportunities

for students as VHS graduates to be absorbed in all

fields of construction work. VHS students are

prepared to become job executors, including

construction work. VHS students are prepared to

have adequate work knowledge competency

standards in carrying out work according to their

field of expertise. This is in accordance with the aim

of organizing VHS to become schools that prepare

students to become graduates who are ready to work.

But it becomes a question mark why many VHS

graduates are still unemployed. This is due to the

fact that VHS graduates as job seekers do not yet

have work competencies that are in accordance with

the needs of the construction service industry

(Kementerian PUPR, 2019). The work competency

that must be possessed by students as prospective

vocational graduates is a combination of several

aspects. Knowledge is one of the important aspects

needed to show one's competence (Maclean and

Wilson, 2009).

Knowledge competency is defined as the ability

of vocational students who have factual, conceptual,

procedural, and metacognitive knowledge in science,

technology, art, and culture with insight into

humanity, nationality, statehood and civilization

related to the causes and effects of phenomena and

events (Permendikbud, 2013). Knowledge is one of

the dimensions of competency formation for each

individual to do a particular job according to his

field of expertise. Knowledge is the foundation

needed by competence. Knowledge becomes the

central dimension of a competency that is combined

with the dimensions of the skills and experience that

Oroh, R.

Dominant Factors of the Knowledge Competency of Vocational High School Students According to the Need of Construction Services.

DOI: 10.5220/0010036400002967

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of Vocational Higher Education (ICVHE 2019) - Empowering Human Capital Towards Sustainable 4.0 Industry, pages 117-121

ISBN: 978-989-758-530-2; ISSN: 2184-9870

117

a person needs to perform a particular task (Weinert,

1999; Succar et al., 2013). This means that

knowledge can be a basis for someone to be able to

adapt to work. Knowledge can also be a basis for

someone to take the initiative in every job.

Knowledge can be the basis of one's understanding

in order to be able to understand the world of work.

Work knowledge given to students in schools is

still considered not appropriate or not relevant to the

needs of the construction services industry. Some of

the competencies of knowledge provided through

subjects in schools have not fully accommodated all

the needs of work knowledge competencies in the

implementation of construction services.

Competencies given at Vocational Schools in

Indonesia, their relevance to the needs of the

industrial world tend to below. Some vocational

program fields fall into the irrelevant category

(Safitri et al., 2012). The suitability or relevance of

vocational education with the needs of the workforce

has not been maximized. The mismatch between the

world of work and the quality of vocational school

graduates is one of the factors that drives the low

absorption of vocational graduates in the

implementation of construction services. The

purpose of this study was to find out the dominant

factors of knowledge competency of VHS students

in shallow foundation construction work according

to the needs of construction services. The

contribution of this research is to show the data as a

result of research on the dominant factors of work

knowledge competence of vocational students who

have conformity with the needs of construction

services.

Construction services businesses in North

Sulawesi continue to show the dynamics of

development, along with efforts to develop

infrastructure in various fields. A fact that took place

in North Sulawesi in the implementation of

construction services was in desperate need of

labour, but still more was imported from outside

North Sulawesi (Wowor et al., 2013). This is

important because in North Sulawesi Province there

are several relatively new districts, which are

continuously developing infrastructure as

community service facilities, as well as the

dynamics of housing development that is so rapid in

order to meet the needs of the community. The need

for labour in construction projects in North Sulawesi

continued to increase essential to support the success

of the construction business (Tumelap et al., 2014;

Wowor et al., 2013). Thus the need for vocational

graduates in North Sulawesi is an important and

urgent matter for vocational education in producing

workers who have competencies relevant to the

needs of construction businesses, to meet the needs

of North Sulawesi and not imported from outside the

region.

2 RESEARCH METHODS

2.1 Research Design

This study uses a descriptive quantitative research

approach, where quantitative data is obtained

through the test instrument was given to

respondents. The instrument was developed from the

results of focus group discussion (FGD) with the

actors of construction services and adjusted with the

Indonesian National Work Competency Standards

(SKKNI) and the Indonesian Qualifications

Framework (KKNI).

2.2 Population, Sample and

Respondent

The respondents of this study were Vocational High

School students, Building Engineering Programs.

They are taking VHS students as respondents,

intended to obtain data about the dominant factors of

student work knowledge competencies that students

have gained through the learning process in school.

Students used as respondents are students who have

finished taking productive learning programs. The

VHS population in North Sulawesi is in a large area,

so only 4 VHS are taken from 3 regencies or cities.

The number of student respondents was 52 people

obtained through random sampling techniques using

the formula from Yamane (Singh and Masuku,

2014; Israel, 2012). Furthermore, respondents in the

element of construction services are representatives

of 5 construction service companies listed in the

LPJK (Construction Services Development Board)

of North Sulawesi, who carry out construction work

in the North Sulawesi and surrounding provinces.

Respondents from construction service actors are

intended to get a description of the data on the needs

of workforce of VHS graduates with relevant work

knowledge competencies.

2.3 Data Collection

This research data was obtained through test

instruments given to respondents. The provision of

test instruments is given by giving directly to

respondents at school. Furthermore, the test

ICVHE 2019 - The International Conference of Vocational Higher Education (ICVHE) “Empowering Human Capital Towards Sustainable

4.0 Industry”

118

instrument was collected and continued with the

tabulation of data to assess the achievement score of

each item in the test instrument on each indicator of

work knowledge competence.

2.4 Research Instruments

The need of students knowledge competency from

the construction services is illustrated in the research

instrument with three work indicators in

construction work, namely preparation of locations,

preparation of foundation profiles, and

implementation of foundation construction work.

Each work indicators has several items in the work

description that are developed based on the FGD

results with the actors of construction services but

also adjusted to the SKKNI for VHS students

2.5 Analysis of Research Data

The data analysis in this study used factor analysis

techniques, with the principal component analysis

method, and the varimax method was used for the

rotation process. The stages and procedures for

calculation in factor analysis, namely: calculating

the correlation matrix, factor extraction and factor

rotation (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2014; Widarjono,

2015). Before the analysis was carried out, the

results of the research data were processed and

tabulated from the research instrument with scores

of the research respondents, in the form of data on

the achievement of each work knowledge indicator

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Student work knowledge competency data is

obtained through written test instruments on the

dimensions of shallow foundation work where the

dimensions of the shallow foundation work are

measured by three indicators, namely; the

preparation of the location; preparation of the

foundation profile; and execution of the foundation

construction work.

Furthermore, the research data is analyzed using

factor analysis techniques with the principal

component analysis method, and the varimax

method is used for the rotation process. According to

the factor analysis procedure, the analysis is carried

out in three stages. Namely, the first stage calculates

the correlation matrix, the second stage calculates

factor extraction, and the third stage calculates the

factor to calculate or look for factors that can

optimize the relationship between the instrument

components. In the process of data processing to

find out how the instrument components in the

knowledge variable can explain the factors formed,

the values of communal and eigenvalue are used.

Based on research data analysis with factor

analysis techniques, obtained eigenvalue through

factor rotation, then formed two dominant factors of

student work knowledge competence, with details

for the first factor has an eigenvalue of 3.088 and the

second factor has eigenvalue 1.174. These factors

are the first factor is the technical specification of

shallow foundation, with details of work is making

soil excavation according to work drawings,

choosing the size of river stone as one of the

ingredients for making foundation pairs, and

determining river stone foundation as a kind of

shallow foundation. The second factor is the work

factor of shallow foundation pair profile, with work

details is to make bow plank as a guess board for

benchmarking soil excavation, making profile pairs

as a benchmark for location and position of the

foundation, and determining the location of the

measurement points for excavation.

The results revealed that the work knowledge

competence of foundation construction that had been

obtained by students in Vocational High School, it

turns out that its suitability was dominated by two

main factors, namely the knowledge factor of the

technical specifications of the foundation and the

knowledge factor of the foundation pair profile. The

level of good work knowledge about foundation

work, it is important to attempt to understand each

work in accordance with existing work

competencies. So that with good work knowledge

competencies, it will be able to lead to good

construction work patterns. Knowledge becomes

important for the workforce in ensuring the accuracy

and success of construction work and can understand

the relationship between various parts of the work

(Elfaki and Alatawi, 2015). Knowledge aspect is

important in understanding the situation and

characteristics of work in the field of engineering

construction (Zhu and Zhang, 2012). Thus, it can be

stated that competency expertise in aspects of work

knowledge is important in understanding the

implementation of work and carrying out

construction work, especially shallow foundation

construction work.

The importance of knowledge for every

workforce such as students who are prepared to

become skilled labor or implementing personnel, is

the basis for understanding work according to work

competencies. This is in line with Maclean and

Wilson (2009) that knowledge is the basic or

Dominant Factors of the Knowledge Competency of Vocational High School Students According to the Need of Construction Services

119

important standard needed to demonstrate

competence. The competency knowledge is needed

to work in certain jobs according to the field of work

expertise (Kehinde and Adewuyi, 2015). This study

shows that vocational students who have gone

through the vocational learning process will get the

provision of work knowledge competencies that are

following the standards of the construction service

industry. Because, vocational education is always

and should follow the dynamics of developing

existing work standards (Akkerman and Bakker,

2012), student competence will be of good quality if

developed through vocational education such as in

the workplace (Aarkrog, 2006). Knowledge

competencies obtained from vocational education

are a reflection of work experience from the school

environment (Rauner et al., 2013). Thus, work

knowledge becomes an important element for every

workforce to be able to work in a workplace well

according to their expertise.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The work knowledge competence of shallow

foundation construction that has been obtained by

students from vocational high schools, it turns out

that the level of conformity is dominated by two

main factors, namely the knowledge factor of the

technical specifications of the foundation and the

knowledge factor of the foundation pair profile. The

dominant factors of student work knowledge

competency, obtained from three work indicators,

namely: (a) location preparation; (b) preparation of

foundation profiles; and (c) implementation of

foundation construction work.

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