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Government to fix training centers
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 11/08/2006 11:47 AM
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Sorowako, South Sulawesi
Concerned by the high unemployment rate among people aged between 15 and 24, the government has announced it will revitalize its 162 vocational training centers across the country.
Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno says that 90 percent of the training centers are in a state of neglect, with local administrations unable to maintain and operate them.
""Very few of the training centers are operational,"" Suparno said when visiting a training center in Bone, South Sulawesi, on Sunday.
The government will make available Rp 628 billion (about US$92 million) next year to revitalize the centers. So far the government has spent about Rp 250 billion a year on the facilities.
""The revitalization program will include refurbishment, new equipment, instructor recruitment and improvements to the curricula and management,"" Antara quoted Suparno as saying.
""A training center's curriculum should accommodate local conditions, whether the community in a particular region is an agricultural, industrial or fishing one.""
Erman said that regencies and cities would ideally have their own vocational training centers, noting that high unemployment rate among school-aged youths was related to the low quality of education in the country and the lack of labor training centers.
A recent survey conducted by the National Labor Training Institute showed that 68 percent of the 11.8 million unemployed in Indonesia were between the ages of 15 and 24. They are frequently unable to enter the local or foreign labor markets because they do not possess the necessary skills.
""Education and training are key to solving the unemployment problem and both must labor market-oriented otherwise the country will face an unemployment explosion among the youth and the quality of our workers will remain low for the next 15 years,"" Erman at a graduation ceremony at the Sorowako Technology Academy (ATS), also in South Sulawesi on Sunday.
The minister advised local governments to cooperate with companies in the area in running their vocational training centers.
He said South Sulawesi's East Luwu regency, which is rich in nickel, has joined with PT Inco, a Canada-based nickel producer, to set up a training center. Qualified trainees were then recruited to work with the company.
""The regions should no longer `export' their unskilled workers to big cities like Jakarta where jobs are hard to get. The regions should try to create jobs for locals,"" he said.
