Labor training centers, facilities unused

Labor training centers, facilities unused

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A number of labor training centers nationwide have for years been
left unused or converted for other purposes.

Head of the Center for Research, Development and Information
at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration Harry Heriawan
Saleh said the condition proved a lack of awareness among
regional governments of training for workers in the face of the
free labor market.

Harry blamed regional autonomy for the neglect of the centers.

"Activities have ceased at many training centers, and some of
them have been converted into ordinary office buildings as
regional governments do not consider them important or relevant
to the development programs there," Harry said on Monday.

The central government has decentralized the management of 148
of 157 labor training centers.

"According to our evaluation and internal audit, only the
training center in Surabaya has functioned well, while many have
cut their training programs and many others have stopped their
activities," Harry said.

Separately, Director General of Manpower Placement and
Training Kirnadi said that in this fiscal year, the government
had distributed Rp 60 billion (US$6.18 million) in funds to
regions to arrange labor training programs regardless of the fact
that many regions had stopped labor training activities.

"We will ask regional governments to restart the labor
training activities and push ahead with labor training programs,"
Kirnadi said.

There are nine training centers exempt from decentralization.
Kirnadi said the training centers had performed well,
particularly in training workers bound for employment in Japan,
Taiwan and Korea.

Harry and Kirnadi are of the same opinion that the government
and the House of Representatives should review Law No. 32/2004 on
regional administration in order to put all training centers back
under the supervision of the manpower ministry.

Harry said his office had planned to cooperate with the new
National Board for Certification of Professions (BNSP) in
establishing competence-based training schemes.

Both officials said that the government should show evidence
of its accountability for billions of dollars of money collected
from expatriates and Indonesian workers sent overseas, and
require all private- and government-owned labor training centers
to implement competence-based training programs.

Meanwhile, BNSP chairman Mudjiman said the board in
cooperation with associations of professionals was still
preparing the necessary infrastructure to provide certification
for professionals.

"The BNSP has set up units in all sectors and is still
preparing thousands of competence tests for all kinds of job in
all sectors. It is also preparing an expert team to lobby other
relevant countries to accept our labor standards and
certificates," he said.

He said in spite of the low quality of Indonesia's human
resources, professionals would need to be certified in accordance
with internationally accepted standards.