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)