Govt turns to private sector for 'link and match'
Govt turns to private sector for 'link and match'
JAKARTA (JP): The government has again called on employers to
participate in its efforts to match school education with the
requirements of industry, offering companies tax cuts and other
incentives in exchange for their involvement.
Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro said
yesterday that, of the 10,000 large companies operating in
Indonesia, only a handful have provided students with the called-
for periods of internship or apprenticeship.
"We will provide participating companies with tax cuts and
other facilities," he said.
He said it was urgent for Indonesia to prepare its work force
to enter the era of industrialization. One of the means to
achieve that objective is the ministry's "link and match" scheme,
he added.
Under the program, companies are requested to provide students
with some workplace experience so that, when they graduate, they
will be equipped with necessary skills to enter the work force.
The Ministry of Education and Culture and the Indonesian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry have signed a cooperation
agreement, under which the Chamber's members will provide
vocational school students with opportunities to be trained in
relevant skills.
Wardiman said that, because of the lack of training centers
and funds, only 63,000 of the 1.4 million students of state and
private vocational schools have been recruited to participate in
the program.
"Industry should continue to...provide opportunities for the
remaining 1.3 million students to benefit from the link and match
program," he said.
"We don't have any other alternatives. The private sector
should participate in the education program...which not only
benefits students and workers, but also industry and the
government as well," he added.
Given the objectives of the scheme, companies should see it as
natural that they be requested to "set aside some of the profits
they are making to finance the program", Wardiman said.
The minister was speaking at the closing ceremony of the third
Asian Toyota Technicians' Skills Grand Prix. The event was a
contest of skill among technicians from eight Asian countries.
Indonesia's technicians gained first place yesterday.
Wardiman said that it is important for Indonesia, if it wishes
to survive in international competition, to develop educational
programs which are in line with industrial requirements.
"We need this approach to enter the country's
industrialization era," he said. "We need quality human resources
to carry out the industrialization program. Otherwise, we will
lose in international competition."
He said the "low quality" of current university graduates was
due to the fact that, in the past, educational matters and
programs were not linked up with those of the world of work.
"We wouldn't have faced the current problem of unemployment,
had we implemented the link and match concept in our education
system earlier," he said.
"Our system of education system is good and applicable. What
is wrong is the way we are implementing it," he said, pointing
out that many schools are operating without an adequate number of
quality teachers and education facilities.
"How can a school produce skilled graduates if it doesn't have
quality human resources and adequate education facilities?" he
asked. (rms)