DevTech was contracted by USAID/Indonesia to conduct a feasibility study to guide USAID and Chevron’s support of technical education in Aceh Province, Indonesia.  Chevron and USAID are contributing up to $5 million to strengthen technical education at the post-secondary level in Aceh.  The purpose of the study was to determine the needs and options for strengthening the relevance, accessibility, and quality of technical education in Aceh. The assessment entailed:

1. Examining labor market needs for long term sustainable development;
2. Assessing long term sustainable economic growth and the skills needed in growth industries;
3. Assessing the status of technical and vocational education institutions; and,
4. Analyzing construction and maintenance costs to build a new polytechnic institution in Aceh.

The six-person team identified long-term sustainable growth potential for the Province in the value-added processing (of agricultural and fishery products) sector, port operations and related shipping and trade industries. The team recommended that USAID and Chevron support the development of a polytechnic for process engineering skills that are applicable to and needed by these linked areas of economic activity.    The full report can be downloaded from this website.