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Lost in the hustle and bustle of a high-school workshop is 11th-grader Vicko Ardiansyah diligently piecing together the tiny components to make a notebook computer.

Vicko, 16, says it takes him and another student only two hours to put together a fully functioning unit.

“It’s not as hard as you’d think, because we’re trained to do this,” Vicko said, adding that he didn’t have a notebook PC of his own.

Vicko is one of 144 information-technology students at SMK 26 vocational school in East Jakarta who have churned out 120 notebooks since early this month.

“Every pair of students works together to assemble a 10-inch notebook, from the monitor to the motherboard to the hard-disk drive, wireless card and keyboard,” Vicko said. “We then install the operating system and software, and the final stage is the quality control.”

He has personally put together 12 such notebooks since taking up the IT course last November, he said.

The task has become routine, “unless you’re dealing with the really tiny components, in which case you need to be extra careful. I sometimes mess up with them too,” Vicko said.

The IT course at SMK 26 is part of the school’s wider program to train students in entrepreneurial skills.

The computer assembly program was previously adopted by SMK 1 vocational school in Central Jakarta, but this program is different in that it has a corporate sponsor: local notebook manufacturer Advan.

“It came as a bit of a shock to us that Advan wanted to sponsor our notebook assembly program,” said Sutaryo, one of the course teachers. “Under this scheme, they supply the components for half price, and in turn we market the finished products under the joint AdvanSMK brand.”

The company also provides internships for highly skilled students at its assembly plant in Semarang, Central Java.

The program’s other key sponsor is the National Education Ministry’s Directorate for Vocational Schools.

The directorate provides all the funding for the program, and has promoted the finished notebooks to the Jakarta City Council for use by legislators.

The school has since donated 14 notebooks to the council for evaluation purposes.

Sutaryo is convinced that the notebooks put together by his students can compete against the brand-name products on the market, particularly on price.

“Our notebooks cost less than other 10-inch notebooks, and we even have an installment plan for those who can’t afford to pay cash up front,” he said.

The 10-inch AdvanSMK notebook comes standard with 1 gigabyte of memory (upgradable), a 10 GB hard-disk drive, an Intel Atom processor, Bluetooth adapter, WiFi card and battery with seven-hour runtime, and retails for Rp 2.7 million ($292).

The notebooks as available at SMK 26, at the Jakarta Education Office, and at state university co-ops. Most of the teachers at SMK 26 use the notebooks in their classes.

“The plan is to make all the required reading electronic, so there won’t be any need for textbooks again,” Sutaryo said.

The government is also in the process of creating an electronic database for all school textbooks.

“Our initial aim was not to sell the notebooks commercially, but rather to use their assembly as an instructional example for the students. However, since we’ve had such rave reviews from the public, there’s been a growing demand for the notebooks, so we’ve been trying to meet that demand,” Sutaryo said.

The commercial aspect of the program has also been adapted into entrepreneurial training. For each notebook sold, the students who assemble it get 10 percent of the retail price.

“It motivates them to work harder, be more productive,” Sutaryo said.

“We’re really proud of what they’ve achieved so far, and we’re confident they can go on to be keen entrepreneurs once they graduate, setting up their own businesses and creating jobs.”

The notebooks are also used as prizes for high-achieving students.

On May 21, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo handed over 14 notebooks to elementary, junior high, senior high and vocational school students in the city with the highest marks from the recent national exams.

“We’ve also presented the notebooks as prizes to the winner of this year’s Asian Physics Olympiad in Taiwan, Kevin Soedyatmiko from SMA 12 state senior high, and the winners of the International Mathematics and Science Olympiad, Agasha Kareef Ratam, Stanley Orlando and Irfan Kusdhany,” Jakarta Education Office spokesman Bowo Irianto said.

He said the City Council had expressed an interest in purchasing the notebooks after evaluating the sample units.

“We’re very proud of what the students at this vocational school have done,” Bowo said.

“This is precisely what the governor’s program for such schools is aimed at: developing the entrepreneurial spirit in students.”

He also called on all teachers and other educators to purchase one of these notebooks for use in class.

“It’s small, it’s handy and it’s efficient,” Bowo said.