Retraining important, Wardiman says

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro emphasized yesterday the importance of giving graduates access to retraining to meet the very dynamic needs of modern occupations.

"All graduates should be prepared to be retrained to catch up with the latest developments in their fields," he said at the graduation ceremony for 190 new masters of business administration at the business school of the Institute for Management Education and Development's School of Management.

He said that work structures are always changing due to the rapid development of technology. "Currently, the time between a technological discovery and its application is getting shorter. This will continue to change our production systems," he noted.

Schools for professionals, he said, should be able to train their students to both master a special skill and learn new methods, and encourage their students to become entrepreneurs.

Asked about the complaints of many foreign and local businessmen about the shortage of professionals in the country, he said the link and match program should be pursued by the professional schools.

This is designed to tailor the education system to the public's needs.

"With the link and match program we can improve our national productivity and competitive edge to face the forthcoming regional free trade," he said.

Businessmen claim that the shortage of qualified professionals forces them to hire foreigners or poach experienced professionals from other companies, although they have to pay them higher salaries.

Enggartiasto Lukita, former chairman of Real Estate Indonesia and a commissioner of PT Bangun Cipta Pratama said that the shortage is particularly felt at the middle-management level.

"I think the government should give further tax incentives to companies for organizing training for workers," he said.

Asked about possible tax incentives, Wardiman said that the government was still discussing the subject but was hopeful that they would be given.

"The government will finally give them. It's only a matter of time," he said. (13)