Ministry to prioritize vocational schools, micro credit to reduce jobless
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 10/30/2009 7:43 PM
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono
said on Friday he would prioritize the improvement of vocational schools and
increase the disbursement of micro credit to reduce the jobless rate.
He said he would coordinate with the Education Ministry to
improve the quality of vocational schools in the country.
"We aim to improve students' entrepreneurship skills as
we want to lower unemployment,” Agung said after attending the National Summit
in Jakarta, which discussed the government's plans for the next five years.
He added he would provide training to teachers in national
vocational school.
Indonesia has 7,800 vocational schools with 3.9 million
students.
He also said he would facilitate micro credit for small
enterprises.
“The national budget has allocated Rp 20 trillion [US$2
billion] for micro credit. As of now, Rp 16 trillion has already been
disbursed,” he said. (nia)
