`Bill unable to improve human resources'<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara<\/p>\n
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea has joined
\nthe chorus of criticism against the education bill, saying
\nchanges are needed to the draft law if the country is committed
\nto improving its human resources enough to compete with
\ncounterparts across ASEAN.<\/p>\n
\"We should not expect a miracle to come from the sky to repair
\nthe low quality of our work force. The nation needs to be
\nforward-thinking to clearly set the direction of the national
\neducation system.<\/p>\n
\"This means the government and the House of Representatives
\nmust make necessary modifications to the current education bill
\nand design an education curriculum for all education institutions
\nat all levels to solve the serious education-related problems and
\nmeet the challenges the nation is facing now and in the future,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Jacob was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting between
\nsenior labor officials from ASEAN and its dialog partners China,
\nJapan and South Korea here on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He insisted that all citizens had the right to an education to
\ndevelop their personality and intelligence.<\/p>\n
\"But the labor market both at home and overseas requires
\nprofessional, skilled, intelligent people in the first place,
\ninstead of just pious workers.\" he said, in an apparent reference
\nto the religious requirements being debated in the bill.<\/p>\n
He called on the government to simplify the curriculum to help
\nstudents develop their own talent and expertise from elementary
\nschool onward, otherwise the nation would not be able to improve
\nthe quality of education and human resources or catch up with
\ndeveloped countries.<\/p>\n
Jacob hails from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle,
\nwhose faction at the House has demanded more discussions on the
\ncontroversial bill before its endorsement, citing national unity.<\/p>\n
Insisting that he was qualified to comment on the bill, Jacob
\ncalled on all sides, especially the House, the education and
\nreligion ministries and all education institutions across the
\ncountry to face the fact that most of Indonesia's work force was
\nundereducated.<\/p>\n
He said 59 percent of the 100 million Indonesian people in the
\nwork force only had either an elementary school education or were
\ndropouts. Around 20 percent finished junior high school, 16
\npercent were high school graduates, 5 percent were university or
\nacademy graduates and those not in the work force were mostly
\nuneducated.<\/p>\n
The minister asserted that the low quality of human resources
\nhad raised problems in finding employment for people both at home
\nand overseas.<\/p>\n
\"The low quality of education and human resources has weakened
\nour workers' bargaining position vis-a-vis their employers in
\nimproving their social welfare. Even more unfortunate, it has
\ncontributed to the serious unemployment, which has reached 40
\nmillion, 10 percent of which is categorized as open
\nunemployment,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The remaining 90 percent is classified as disguised
\nunemployment, indicated by the fact that they work less than 35
\nhours per week.<\/p>\n
Jacob said further that the low quality of education in the
\ncountry has also caused Indonesian workers to lack
\ncompetitiveness overseas, compared to other ASEAN neighbors
\nSingapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.<\/p>\n
He admitted that the arrests of 118 -- not 100 as reported
\nearlier -- Indonesian women employed as sex workers in Saudi
\nArabia, at least 100 others in the Philippines and 12 male
\nworkers on death row in Malaysia were evidence that the quality
\nof the country's human resources was at an alarming level.<\/p>\n
Citing another example, he said that there were thousands of
\nworkers in \"training programs\" in Japan and South Korea, but
\nthose programs were deceiving because the people actually work in
\nsmall-scale businesses with salaries far lower than the minimum
\nwage in the two countries. The program has been running since
\n1992.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bill-unable-to-improve-human-resources-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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