Moerdijat: Education Must Not Only Be Market-Oriented, But Also Build Character

Deputy Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI) Lestari Moerdijat has said that education should not be oriented solely towards market logic. Instead, education must be capable of producing individuals who are critical, cultured, and possess strong character, in line with the ideals of Ki Hajar Dewantara.

“Our education system is currently at a crossroads and requires transformation to produce not only graduates with technical skills, but also the capacity for critical thinking and the ability to apply their knowledge,” Lestari Moerdijat said on Tuesday (11/8/2026).

A report by the Institute for Economic and Social Research at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia (LPEM FEB UI), published in Labor Market Brief Volume 7, Number 7, July 2026, ISSN 2808-2060, reveals a trend of overeducation among university graduates. Overeducation is a phenomenon in which graduates work in jobs that do not require the level of education they have attained.

According to the report, approximately 8.01 million university graduates in Indonesia are working in positions that do not match their educational qualifications, or are below standard (underemployment). This data from LPEM FEB UI serves as a serious alarm regarding the gap between the education system and the needs of the national labour market.

“This phenomenon shows that the growth of educated workers is faster than the creation of jobs requiring high-level skills,” she said.

According to Lestari, this situation arises partly because of the weak link between education programmes, graduate competencies, and employer needs. She argued that collective synergy is needed to restructure the education system so that it aligns with economic needs without disregarding national values.

In her view, careful planning is required between expanding access to higher education and creating productive professional employment.

“The success of higher education cannot be measured solely by the number of graduates, but by their ability to contribute optimally to strengthening the foundations of national economic growth,” she concluded.