The main contributor to the high unemployment rate of the young population aged 15-24 years, known as Generation Z, is the discrepancy between the education system and the current labor demand. As a result, the competence of graduates is not in line with the needs of the job market at the moment. Professor of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) of Universitas Indonesia (UI), Prof. Omas Bulan Samosir, Ph.D., mentioned how the labor market dynamics evolve faster than the dynamics of labor input capacity.
Education institutions should provide knowledge provisions for the workforce, but unfortunately, they usually often lag in responding to market needs. Additionally, the curriculum designed is not always up-to-date with developments in the industrial world.
“Unemployment means to not or stop producing. The unemployed workforce today will be a burden if large-scale unemployment occurs in the future. As a result, Indonesia Emas will be at risk of not being achieved if one generation becomes a blocker in achieving development. Meanwhile, that workforce is hoped to become a driving force for economic growth to achieve Indonesia Emas,” said Prof. Omas.
In dealing with this problem, parties involved could collaborate and synergize, including education institutions and vocational training, the workforce, and the government. Work ethics must be established to ensure that the workforce is ready to face the labor market dynamics. Other than that, education institutions need to continue updating the curriculum in accordance with industry needs.
A worker must be proactive in increasing skills. On the other hand, the government must play a role in developing policies that support the world of education, such as updating the curriculum. Even so, Prof. Omas considered that formal education is not enough. Vocational certification and additional training are required to complete graduate competencies.
The Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemdikbud) has realized the importance of this by admitting vocational certification as part of the human capital possessed by job seekers. “The more certificates job seekers own, the better chances they have to fulfill the ever-changing requirements of the labor market,” said Omas.
She added that Vocational High Schools (SMK) is a formal form of vocational education. The world of education still needs vocational skills through vocational schools and remains relevant to produce a competent workforce in the industry. This can be done by expanding direct connections between vocational schools and the industrial world so that they can be involved in building vocational school curricula periodically.
“Industries are supposed to be able to cooperate directly with vocational schools in creating or as spare part manufacturers of its industry. For example, in the BMW bicycle industry in Germany, the manufacturing of spare parts for BMW bicycles is handed over to vocational schools by training vocational schools to make them, and the price offered is the market price. Vocational school students immediately get paid when they make them. However, Indonesia has not implemented this kind of thing and cooperation, and our vocational education world is still very far from the manufacturing/industrial world,” said Prof. Omas.
