From Formal Agreements to Educational Value: A Policy and Conceptual Analysis of School-Industry Partnership Governance in Vocational Education

Abstract

School-industry partnerships are central to vocational education, but formal agreements do not automatically produce coherent curricula, high-quality workplace learning, or equitable transitions to employment. This study examined how partnership governance is framed in contemporary vocational education policy and translated the resulting principles into an operational model for institutions. A qualitative document analysis was conducted on eight authoritative Indonesian and international policy or guidance documents issued between 2021 and 2025. The primary corpus was analysed through directed content analysis using eight governance domains: purpose and shared value, actor representation, role accountability, curriculum and assessment co-design, coordination and intermediation, resources and incentives, learner protection and equity, and monitoring and renewal. Selected peer-reviewed studies were used for interpretive triangulation rather than treated as a systematic-review corpus. The analysis found strong policy convergence on multi-actor coordination, employer participation across curriculum design, delivery, and feedback, structured work-based learning, qualified workplace mentors, shared resources, inclusion, and outcome-oriented evaluation. The main implementation weakness was the distance between high-level mandates and verifiable school-level operating standards. The study proposes a three-level governance architecture and a six-stage partnership cycle. Partnership quality should be judged by educational value, reciprocal benefit, learner protection, equity, evidence, and sustainability, not by the number of signed agreements alone.