Indonesia’s unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent in 2018 from 11.2 percent in 2005. Nevertheless, challenges in the labor market persist. In fact, the percentage of youth (aged 15 to 24 years) who are neither in school, nor working, nor undertaking training is still very high at 22.5 percent, an increase of 1.1 percentage points from the previous year and higher than the average rate of 13.1 percent in Southeast Asia. Also, the share of unemployed youth in total unemployment is substantial at 57.9 percent, which is considerably above the global average of 30 percent. To reduce youth unemployment and to improve labor market outcomes, extending the access to vocational education is often an appealing option for policymakers in developing countries. Vocational education is believed to produce “specific human capital”, which provides students with the opportunity ...

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.