S. Kalimantan job seekers told to stay put

BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan: Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea has advised students in South Kalimantan not to leave their resource-rich province for jobs in big cities.

"You should make the best of your natural resources. Don't go to the big cities to find jobs because you can create them here," he told residents in South Kalimantan on Wednesday.

The province is home to almost 3.1 million people and has an abundance of natural resources. Unfortunately, at least 35,292 of the 1.45 million inhabitants of productive age are jobless.

Jacob said students should also plan the education they needed for their futures. "The country has failed to fill 40 percent of the job vacancies available (overseas) because it cannot match national education qualifications with market needs."

He explained that there were many job opportunities in the U.S., Middle East, and Canada requiring skilled people, such as nurses, but Indonesians were not hired due to their lack of skills. --JP