The activity was opened by the Head of the Bali Education, Youth and Sports Agency, Ketut Ngurah Boy Jayawibawa, on Monday (Dec. 7) and lasted for 6 days. The exhibition with the theme “Cultivating Creativity and Spirit of Young Entrepreneurs” was held both offline and online.

Principal of the SMK Parada, Ni Putu Trisnawati, stated that the Student Work Exhibition and Business Start-Up 2020 was held offline at the Padma Room of the Dalung Tourism Vocational School by following health protocols, and online can be followed through social media like Instagram: @smkprada and @ paradaproduction. FB: Dalung Tourism Vocational School, YouTube: Dalung Tourism Vocational School. Students as participants are of grade X, XI and XII after previously following the stages of data collection, selection and mentoring through workshops with speakers from the Education Office, Industry and Labor Service and practitioners.

The exhibition, consisting of products made by students, is expected to be a venue for young entrepreneurs to grow. In addition, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, students are becoming more creative and productive. They must apply their knowledge, so that they can support the economy. The use of social and online media must be directed towards positive things. “One of them is through this activity. This is a concrete manifestation of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution which we must now implement,” said Trisnawati.

Dalung Tourism Vocational School as one of the vocational schools active in the SPW (Entrepreneur Maker School) program is committed to forming a young entrepreneurial spirit. This is one of the answers to the argument stating that SMK graduates contribute the most to unemployment after high school. “The Covid-19 pandemic since March 2020 has caused the majority of job opportunities in the tourism sector to have felt a significant impact. This was also felt by the students of SMK Parada, starting from the learning process that changed from conventional face-to-face learning to online learning, and students who were carrying out Industrial Work Practices (on the-job training) were withdrawn from hotels,” he said.

Head of the Bali Education, Youth and Sports Agency, Ketut Ngurah Boy Jayawibawa, gave his appreciation for the exhibition held by SMK Parada. During this pandemic, the activities of these SMK students are not dim, but instead having activities. “Do not be dampened by the Covid-19 pandemic that makes us passive and sluggish. Well, the students of SMK Parada have answered. They held an exhibition by displaying various innovative works. And most importantly, this activity does not reduce discipline to Covid-19, namely strictly implementing health protocols,” he said.

In January 2021, the learning of SMK will not follow the zone. When vocational school students graduate, but do not have the skills, this really becomes a problem. “We believe that the principal of the SMK Parada and the foundation have made a curriculum alignment, so that when entering the present period, they have carried out training and practice, so that after just being given slight adjustment, it is just finished. In other words, after entering their real world, they have been ready,” he concluded. (BTN/015)