Job scarcity keeps graduates in school
A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Mirza, who just graduated from the Trisakti University law school earlier this year, is now busy preparing to go to Australia to continue his study.
A "S1" (undergraduate) degree is no longer enough for the 20- year-old Mirza. He now wants to study international business law at a university in Sydney.
"Although I have passed my S1 program with good grades, I still want to improve my knowledge and get a master's degree," the resident of Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta said.
Another S1 graduate, Boby, who graduated from the electrical engineering school of the University of Indonesia (UI), claims that increasing competition among job seekers has made a S1 degree insufficient to get a good job.
"The competition is getting tighter. While looking for a good job, I decided to continue my study in management," said the 21- year-old, who has just passed an entrance test at the Jakarta campus of Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University to undertake a master's degree in management.
Meanwhile, Ria Ayu Intan Pratiwi, 19, a student at UI's school of political and social sciences, said continuing "S2" (master's) degree study was good for S1 graduates as they were still fresh.
"I will continue to S2-level. My dad suggested that I continue my study since I'm still young," said Ria.
Tighter competition in the country's job market, increasing willingness among youth to improve their knowledge, and the rise in the financial wealth of many Indonesians, are among the factors behind the current trend, in which many fresh S1 graduates are continuing their study to get master's degree, rather than enter an uncertain job market.
Education consultant Kevin Tan says that the number of Indonesian students pursuing master's degrees overseas increases every year.
"Aside from studying their majors, they certainly want to learn English. Furthermore, the cost of education is not too expensive," said Kevin, who is also the secretary general of the Indonesian International Education Consultants Association (IKPII).
While studying, he said, students could easily get part-time jobs to cover part of the cost of their education.
About 5,000 Indonesian students from various levels entered Australian education institutions last year and some 800 students enrolled in U.K. institutions during the same period. Although there is no precise data on previous years, it is believed that the number of students studying overseas is increasing.
However, pursuing master's degrees overseas is not the only option as many domestic universities are improving their quality by, among other things, cooperating with foreign universities to set up dual degree programs.
Trisakti and UI, for example, are cooperating with universities in Australia with their Magister Manajemen (MM) programs. Their graduates will get both MM and master's in business administration (MBA) degrees.
In the dual degree programs, students study in English- speaking classes with local and foreign lecturers. The cost of the education is cheaper.
Noted education expert Arif Rahman considered that many S1 graduates met the requirements to pursue master's degrees.
"It's a good trend as far as the students passing the selection requirements. I see that many of them are meeting the requirements to continue to S2 programs," Arif said.
He said Indonesia still needed many more people with master's and doctoral degrees.