West Java Governor Plans Foreign-Language Village Scheme to Improve Job Prospects
Every regency and city will have four villages in which all residents take courses in Arabic, English, Mandarin and Japanese.
Indramayu (ANTARA) – West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi is preparing a foreign-language village programme in every regency and city in the province, to equip residents with language skills they can use when seeking work, particularly in industrial areas.
“Every regency and city will have four villages in which all residents take courses in Arabic, English, Mandarin and Japanese,” Governor Dedi Mulyadi said in a statement in Indramayu on Friday.
He said the West Java Provincial Government would provide teachers, while regency and city governments would select the villages where lessons would be held.
Dedi said that in Indramayu Regency, Muntur village in Losarang district had been selected for Mandarin lessons because it is near an industrial area with investors from China.
He said the provincial government had recorded that PT Food Packaging Jaya, in the Losarang Industrial Estate, employed 158 Chinese nationals, whose role was to train local workers to make products to the required standards and buyers’ specifications.
“Muntur is suitable as a Mandarin-language village because it is located in the Losarang Industrial Estate, where there is a foreign investor from China, so those skills will be useful for people seeking work here,” Dedi said.
The provincial government plans to involve educational institutions with experience teaching foreign languages to help provide instructors in the designated villages.
Meanwhile, Indramayu Regent Lucky Hakim said the local government had held an online job fair offering 644 vacancies at 23 companies operating in the area.
He said the recruitment system awarded additional points to applicants living near a company, while still requiring them to meet the educational and competency qualifications for the positions.
He explained that the system resembled zoning for new student admissions: proximity of residence was taken into account without waiving companies’ basic requirements.
“Registration is open, but there is a scoring system, so applicants who live locally near the company will receive extra points,” Lucky Hakim said.