SBM ITB, in collaboration with the West Java Provincial Education Office (Disdik Jabar), held the Entrepreneurship Creative Learning Bootcamp in Bandung on Friday, 11 July. This intensive, hands-on training aimed to enhance the capacity of vocational high school (SMK) teachers to teach entrepreneurship using a creative, applicable, and enjoyable approach.
Held over two days (July 11–12) at the MBA Building, ITB Bandung, the bootcamp was designed to equip teachers with 21st-century skills aligned with the evolving needs of both the education and business sectors. A total of 44 SMK teachers from across West Java participated on the first day of the program.
Edy Purwanto, Head of the Student Activities and Vocational Education Division at the West Java Provincial Education Office, hoped that teachers would become key drivers of entrepreneurship in schools, enabling vocational school graduates to become not only job seekers but also job creators.
Manahan Siallagan, Head of the Big Data and Business Analytics Laboratory at SBM ITB, highlighted the importance of adopting a global outlook in teaching, especially in an increasingly borderless world. He emphasized that teachers must be able to access and apply global knowledge in local contexts while fostering innovation in schools.
The first day of the bootcamp featured two key modules. The first, “Building 21st-Century Skills for Gen Z,” was delivered by Prof. Dr. Markus Ammann from Innsbruck University, Austria. He explored how vocational education can prepare students for the rapidly changing world of work, introducing a framework of essential 21st-century skills: critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and digital literacy. He also stressed the importance of internships as meaningful learning experiences that balance work and study, rather than serving merely as temporary staffing roles.
The second module, “Creative Solutions with Design Thinking,” was presented by R. Bayuningrat Hardjakaprabon. Participants were introduced to the five key steps of design thinking: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test, an approach used to develop relevant, human-centered solutions.
During the Mini Design Sprint session, participants worked in small groups and conducted on-site observations around the ITB campus as part of the “empathize” phase. They then created Empathy Maps to identify the needs, emotions, and challenges faced by their target users.
Sukiman, a teacher from SMK Negeri 1 Susukan, Cirebon, expressed a positive impression of the program. He felt the training enriched his knowledge and sharpened his skills in teaching entrepreneurship. He emphasized that the 4C framework, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Communication, and Collaboration, shared by Prof. Dr. Ammann would serve as a strong foundation for cultivating communication and creativity among students.
The Entrepreneurship Creative Learning Bootcamp is more than just a training program, it represents a concrete step toward building a contextual, innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem within vocational schools. Through this collaboration between SBM ITB and the West Java Provincial Education Office, the program is expected to help develop a resilient, adaptive young generation ready to become future entrepreneurs.
