Job scarcity keeps graduates in school
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.