ASEAN  Economic  Community  has  prevailed  at  the  end  of   2015.   Regar di ng  t hi s  i ssue,   i t   has  some consequences.  One  of  them  is  the  open  flow  of products,  services,  and  human  resources  across ASEAN countries. In  addition, ASEAN members can freely  sell  their  industrial  products.  In  other  words, this  policy  can  increase  the  degree  of  products competition  among  those  countries.  Service  industry will take part  in  all  ASEAN  countri es  without boundaries. Another consequence is there are many employment opportunities among ASEAN countries. However,  when  one  side  can  enlarge  employment opportunities,  it  can  threaten  less  skilled  human resources  position  in  a  particular  country .

 

To  confront  the  invasion  of  foreign  workers from several countri es, it is necessary to put up candidates who have qualified manpower that can be accepted  in  other  countries.  In  that  case,  it  is necessary  for educational  institutions  at  national, regional,  and  international  level  to  have  assured quality .  Also,  based  on  the  demands  of  the  regional labor  qualification,  it  is  expected  that  vocational education graduates can implement quality assurance  in  accordance  with  the  framework  of regional  labor  qualification.

 

Vocational education  aims  to  produce  skilled  human resources to meet the demands. Economy growth in a country  depends  on  the  growth  of  the  industry. Growth  industries require skilled employees  that graduate from vocational education. Thus, economic growth, industrial growth and skilled labor fulfillment have  mutual  support.

 

The number of human resources that are needed are not only limited  to  the  formal  sector  but also  the informal  sector  and  rural  small  industries. They mostly  graduate from non-formal  education and formal  education. There  are  many  small  industries  and informal  enterprises  in  the ASEAN  countries. The successful  fulillment  of  skilled  human  resources  is highly dependent on vocational education. Reputable vocati onal   educati on  certainly  is  supported  by professional  teachers.  Based  on  this  fact,  the strengthening of vocational teacher  education institutions  is  considered  urgent  since  at  this  time vocational  teacher  education  institutions  have  not set  up  teachers  according  to  expertise  program  in vocational  education.