Skilled workers help improve RI's image<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta<\/p>\n
In the eyes of most countries, Indonesia is a poor country that
\nis capable of supplying only unskilled and uneducated migrant
\nworkers to richer and more developed countries, but labor
\nexporter Saleh Alwaini is determined to prove that this
\nimpression is misplaced.<\/p>\n
His holding company, the Binawan Corporation, is set to supply
\n400 professional healthcare workers on an annual basis to
\nBritain, the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, Australia
\nand the Middle Eastern countries.<\/p>\n
The first group, comprised of the maiden graduates of the
\nBinawan Institute of Health Sciences, which started operation in
\n2001, will depart to their destination countries by the end of
\nthis year.<\/p>\n
With their international certificates in various health
\ndisciplines, the workers will be employed in hospitals based on
\ninternational standard contracts and salaries.<\/p>\n
\"For the first two years, a worker will receive a gross salary
\nof US$2,000 per month. Her salary will then rise in accordance
\nwith her work experience and bargaining power,\" Binawan Holding
\nGroup president Saleh Alwaini told The Jakarta Post after seeing
\noff some of the institute's lecturers on to Sydney, Australia, on
\nThursday, where they will participate in postgraduate and PhD
\nprograms.<\/p>\n
Saleh has focused on sending professional healthcare workers
\nabroad because besides being more lucrative, he believes his
\nbusiness will improve the image of Indonesian workers overseas.<\/p>\n
\"Sending skilled and educated workers overseas is more
\nprofitable, more prestigious and less risky, and this program
\nwill certainly improve the well-being and status of the workers,
\nas well as our country's image,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said, for example, that professional healthcare workers
\nwould be paid between US$2,000 and $3,000 per month, depending on
\nthe country in which they were employed. Their accommodation
\nwould also be provided. This was in marked contrast to most
\nIndonesian migrant workers, including house maids employed in the
\ninformal sector, who get paid an average of $150 per month, often
\nhave their wages withheld, and frequently have to work up to ten
\nor more hours per day, seven days per week.<\/p>\n
He said that the poor treatment meted out to some Indonesian
\nworkers overseas had a lot to do with a lack of skills, education
\nand training on the part of them.<\/p>\n
\"In this era of globalization, workers need to be self-reliant
\nso that they can protect themselves and deal with any
\ndifficulties they experience with foreign employers and
\nagencies,\" he noted.<\/p>\n
Since 1992, Binawan has sent a total of 1,900 healthcare
\nprofessionals abroad, with most being recruited from nursing
\nschools in Java and Sumatra and given six months training to meet
\ninternational requirements. However, the program had to be halted
\nas \"besides being inefficient, the quality of the workers was
\nbelow international standards and, therefore, we decided to set
\nup our own academy to produce skilled workers that satisfy
\ninternational standards.\"<\/p>\n
Saleh, who has been in the labor export business since the
\n1980s, said he hoped this would inspire other labor exporters to
\nset up their own international-standard vocational schools and
\ntraining centers to produce skilled and self-reliant workers.<\/p>\n
\"I would be very proud if labor exporters, with or without
\ngovernment support, established international-standard vocational
\nand training centers to produce skilled workers. The demand for
\nthese workers on the international labor market is on the rise,\"
\nhe said enthusiastically.<\/p>\n
He added that the Binawan Institute of Health Sciences and
\nother international academies in other countries would not be
\nable to meet the global demand for migrant healthcare workers.
\n\"The world demand for these workers has increased to 900,000 this
\nyear from around 650,000 last year as most people in the rich and
\ndeveloped countries don't want to work in the health sector,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Side-bar story:<\/p>\n
Binawan Institute produces qualified healthcare workers<\/p>\n
Inspired by the increasing demand for qualified healthcare
\nworkers abroad, labor exporter, the Binawan Holding Group has
\nestablished an international standard health sciences academy in
\nJakarta to train nurses and other healthcare workers for
\nemployment overseas.<\/p>\n
Saleh Alwaini, the chairman of the Binawan Foundation, which
\nruns the Binawan Institute of Health Sciences in Kalibata, East
\nJakarta, said the institute offered undergraduate and
\npostgraduate programs in the health sciences -- nursing,
\nphysiotherapy, radiography, chemistry analysis and occupational
\ntherapy -- and had been in existence for more than three years.
\nHe said the institute applied an international curriculum and had
\nmany teaching staff from Australia and the United States.<\/p>\n
\"The institute opened in 2000, and is to set to have its first
\ngraduation ceremony in a couple of months. All of the graduates
\nwill take up immediate employment for two years in Britain, the
\nNetherlands, Canada, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait,
\nwith gross monthly salaries of US$2,500,\" he said, adding that
\nmore than 400 graduates would be conferred during the first
\ngraduation ceremony.<\/p>\n
The institute has two luxurious campuses located in Kalibata,
\nEast Jakarta, and Cianjur, West Java, respectively.<\/p>\n
Saleh declined to mention the amount of money his company had
\ninvested in the project, but admitted that the foundation running
\nthe academy had received financial aid or loans from a number of
\nforeign donors, local banks and the holding group.<\/p>\n
He said the academy had to turn away many applicants due to
\nthe great demand for places.<\/p>\n
\"Around 20,000 senior high school graduates have applied to
\nthe academy over the last four years, but our capacity is only
\n400 per year,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He explained that the massive interest in the academy was
\npartly due to the fact the some of the tuition fees could be paid
\nafter the graduates started working abroad, and student
\naccommodation was included in the cost.<\/p>\n
A student taking the bachelor of nursing program is required
\nto pay Rp 12 million for the first one-and-a-half years, while
\nthe remaining Rp 24 million for the second three-and-a-half years
\nmay be paid off by installment during the course of her two-year
\nemployment contract overseas.<\/p>\n
He said that as well as sending teaching staff to participate
\nin postgraduate and PhD programs overseas, more classrooms and
\nother facilities were being provided to enable the institute to
\nadmit more students in 2005\/2006.<\/p>",
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