Workers to get better training

Workers to get better training

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief appealed to
the private business sector yesterday to help with the
government's plan to completely revamp its workers training
programs.

"The government sees no alternative than to involve the
private sector in the drive to strengthen the quality of human
resources in the country," Latief told reporters after opening an
international seminar on training restructuring and the labor
market.

The government is currently revamping its workers' training
schemes, including the hundreds of vocational training centers
which are managed by the Ministry of Manpower. The job of
training and equipping workers with basic industrial skills has
so far been carried out chiefly by the government.

Latief said the restructuring is necessary to cope with the
surge in demand for skilled industrial workers. He conceded that
the present workers training system is inadequate.

The minister said that many university and college graduates
do not possess the skills that are being sought in the labor
market.

"I don't blame the graduates for the situation. But the most
important thing now is that the national education system and
training program should be restructured," he said.

He said the government would push small and middle-sized
companies as well as the large ones to join in the endeavor.
"They will be encouraged to invest in training their own workers
and to pay some fees towards the training program," he said.

The three-day seminar, attended by about 100 experts from the
World Bank, Australia, Japan, Germany, South Korea, the United
States and Indonesia, is expected to produce recommendations for
the government in restructuring its training programs and
analyzing the domestic labor market.

Latief also disclosed that the government is planning to hike
the official minimum wage levels across the nation beginning next
April.

He said he is waiting for proposals to be submitted by the
provincial administrations on how much the minimum wages should
be raised. The proposals should be in early next month and the
government will announce its decisions before the end of the
year, he said, adding that the increase, as was the case this
year, would become effective on April 1, 1996.

He said the increase would take into account the inflation
rate.

Last year, the government raised minimum wages by between 10
and 15 percent. (rms)