Government urged to better vocational training

Government urged to better vocational training

JAKARTA (JP): Labor exporters are calling on the government to
maximize the country's 153 training centers to train adequately
those people seeking work overseas.

The president of labor supply company PT Binawan Duta Pratama,
Saleh Alwaini, criticized the government for doing little to
improve the quality of workers, especially those supplied
overseas.

"Labor exporters have decided not to train workers before
sending them abroad due to financial and political problems.
Training programs need a huge investment and the present
political situation is not conducive for such an investment," he
said here.

He said Indonesia would likely loose out in the fierce
competition with other labor-exporting countries to grab a share
of the international labor market unless the quality of its
workers was improved.

"So far, labor exporters have exported only maids, mostly
female, because our workers are not competitive. Many foreign
countries prefer to recruit maids from the Philippines because
they are skilled in housekeeping and can work more
independently," he said.

He said the demand for semiskilled workers remained high in
Europe, the Middle East, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, Singapore and
Malaysia, but Indonesia could not meet this demand because of the
low quality of its human resources.

Saleh, the owner of the Binawan Group, said Indonesia, with
its 100-million-strong workforce of mostly elementary school
graduates, would have difficulty competing in the era of free
trade unless training centers and institutions were empowered to
produce skilled workers and professionals.

"The unemployment rate (in the country) has reached around 40
million and this will have a negative impact in terms of social
problems and crime at home," he said.

The chairman of the Association of Indonesian Labor Exporters,
Abdulla Umar, criticized Minister of Manpower Bomer Pasaribu and
other officials at the ministry for not focusing adequate
attention on the country's deplorable labor situation.

"Bomer has done nothing other than secure his current position
over the last nine months. He has made numerous foreign trips but
has yet to make any policy to boost the export of labor," he
said.

The director general for labor training and productivity, Yudo
Swasono, conceded the Ministry of Manpower had yet to establish a
national policy to make use of the training centers to improve
the skills of the country's workers.

This in part, he said, was due to financial constraints and a
past lack of cooperation among the directorates at the ministry.

"So far, we have formulated no plan to make use of the
training centers for labor exports, and the numerous training
centers cannot function properly because of the small amount of
money allocated in the state budget for training programs and the
absence of modern equipment to train ready-for-use workers," he
said.

He noted the government allocated only Rp 33 billion for
worker training programs in the 2000-20001 state budget, adding
that a lack of cooperation among the ministry's directorates in
the past hindered efforts to enhance the quality of workers sent
overseas.

"The labor placement directorate has never consulted with the
labor training and productivity directorate to design a plan to
make use of the training centers to train workers who want to
work overseas," he said.

A legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan), Marle Aberson Sihaloho, attacked the government
for failing to exploit the training centers to produce skilled
workers, saying vocational training programs were needed to boost
the export of labor and produce greater numbers of entrepreneurs.

"In facing the prolonged crisis, private and state-run
training centers should be encouraged to provide vocational
training to the unemployed, including dismissed workers, to boost
the export of labor and strengthen the private sector at home,"
he said.

He said that according to the Constitution, the government had
an obligation to provide job opportunities, education and
vocational training for the people. (rms)