Manpower Minister urges strengthening STEM to eliminate workforce skill gap
Jakarta - Minister of Manpower Yassierli is pushing for the strengthening of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in Indonesia to eliminate the skill mismatch in the workforce.
During the annual meeting of the Association of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (MIPA) of the Indonesian Educational Personnel Education Institutions (AMLI) in Jakarta on Thursday, Minister Yassierli revealed that there is a skill gap of around 30 to 40 per cent, both vertically and horizontally.
The Manpower Minister explained that a vertical skill mismatch occurs when jobs intended for high school or equivalent graduates are performed by bachelor’s degree holders, whereas a horizontal skill mismatch refers to graduates working outside their field of study.
Therefore, the Minister supports collaboration among all stakeholders, including the Educational Personnel Education Institutions (LPTK) in the field of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (MIPA) in Indonesia, in an effort to strengthen STEM education.
Minister Yassierli emphasised that STEM is a fundamental competency that must be mastered by the Indonesian workforce.
The Professor of Industrial Engineering at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) stated that STEM curricula and teaching materials in Indonesian universities need to be updated regularly to adapt to the needs of graduates in the job market.
“This is an important basic competency that our workers must possess in the future. The industrial world has its own map of job requirements, and colleagues on campus have their own programme profiles; study programmes must be more specific,” said Minister Yassierli.
Meanwhile, AMLI Chair Edy Cahyono noted that bachelor’s degree graduates in Indonesia face extraordinary challenges due to limited job opportunities and the necessity to possess a complete set of competencies to meet the demands of the times.
Hadi Nasbey, Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the State University of Jakarta (UNJ) and host of the event, conveyed that the trust placed in FMIPA UNJ as the host is a momentum to strengthen collaboration among MIPA faculties within LPTKs across Indonesia.
According to him, the current challenges in higher education demand closer synergy in curriculum development, improving the quality of teaching, research, and community service.
“Through this forum, we hope to produce various strategic recommendations that can strengthen the role of MIPA LPTKs in producing educators, researchers, and graduates who are able to adapt to the development of science and the needs of the job market,” said Hadi.