VOCATIONAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM NEEDS AT AMIK BUKITTINGGI: ALIGNING DIGITAL COMPETENCIES WITH INDUSTRY DEMANDS

Abstract

This study analyzes vocational curriculum needs at AMIK Bukittinggi to identify the extent to which the existing curriculum aligns with industry expectations, technological change, and graduate employability requirements. A mixed-methods needs-analysis design was used. Quantitative evidence was obtained from questionnaires completed by 50 active students and 15 alumni, while qualitative evidence was drawn from semi-structured interviews with 10 lecturers and five industry stakeholders selected purposively. Survey data were summarized descriptively and interview evidence was organized thematically, then both strands were integrated at the interpretation stage. The findings indicate that the curriculum remains functional and broadly relevant, especially through practicum and project activities, but faces a growing risk of obsolescence if digital content, soft skills, lecturer capability, and industry participation are not renewed systematically. The strongest priorities were industry-based curriculum input (90.8%), alignment of materials with employment trends such as artificial intelligence (89.2%), stronger industry-based content (86.2%), project-based learning (84.6%), and greater technology use by lecturers (81.5%). The proposed curriculum-needs framework is organized around industry relevance as the primary principle, continuous evidence-based curriculum governance as the institutional mechanism, and adaptive digital competence, experiential learning, and employability skills as development domains. Emerging technologies are treated as competence domains linked to the Informatics Management graduate profile and authentic work tasks rather than automatically as separate courses. The findings are institution-specific and should be interpreted within the limits of purposive sampling and the available instrument documentation.