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Indonesians turn to coding schools as digital economy flourishes
Instructing computers: Students of various levels learn to code at a coding school in BSD City, South Tangerang, Banten, on Jan
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nstructing computers: Students of various levels learn to code at a coding school in BSD City, South Tangerang, Banten, on Jan. 23. The flourishing digital economy in Indonesia has prompted many to enroll in coding schools. (JP/Ardila Syakriah)
In an era in which the digital economy is thriving amid mushrooming start-ups, more Indonesian people are eager to learn to talk in the language of computers.
The programming languages of JavaScript, Python and the like are increasingly being heard among people of all ages, ranging from children to adult professionals, who are flocking to a growing number of coding schools in
the country.
These schools provide not only lessons, both online and offline, but many also offer certification that will help their students land jobs in the information technology (IT) field that almost always show up on companies’ job vacancy notices.
The prices vary, with offline classes charging tens of millions of rupiah for a few months’ worth of classes.
A student at the Purwadhika coding school in Jakarta, Prikenang “Kenang” Prasty, 24, said he quit studying accounting at the prestigious Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta to spend his remaining educational funds on a four-month class on web and mobile development.
He paid Rp 20 million (US$1,469) for the class.
“The opportunities and development of IT are very interesting to follow. [...] I see no future for me in finance, because my friends are way more skilled in taking up opportunities. However, in IT, because it’s very dynamic, I’m certain that I can keep up,” said Kenang, who is no novice to the IT world as he was a National Science Olympiad delegate for computer sciences at the provincial level in senior high school.
Kenang, who will be completing his class in two months, said that if he could pass the subsequent exams, comprising a final project of creating a fully working website and a series of other tests, he would be able to join the “hiring day” event held by the school. On that day, partner companies of the school, many of which are start-up companies, will scout student talent.
The 2020 Michael Page Indonesia Salary Benchmark report has found that professionals in the digital and technology sectors, particularly in financial technology, will potentially experience a salary increase of up to 50 percent as the sectors will enjoy a 15 to 50 percent increase in growth in Indonesia.
Indonesia’s digital economy has more than quadrupled in size since 2015, at an average growth rate of 49 percent a year with an estimated value of $40 billion last year, as revealed in an annual report by American tech giant Google, Singaporean holding company Temasek and management consulting firm Bain & Company.
This growth has led Indonesia to dominate the Southeast Asia region, with its market value expected to triple to $130 billion by 2025.
Despite its flourishing growth, however, the digital industry is having a hard time finding adept digital talent. For this reason, among others, coding schools have sprung up, including online-learning platform Dicoding, which has been partnered with Google since 2015.
Mutiara Arumsari, an editor at Dicoding, said the academy was aiming to “bridge the skills gap” as it was not uncommon to find university graduates unable to code well.
A 2018 World Bank report revealed that Indonesia is projected to experience a digital skills shortage of 9 million between 2015 and 2030.
This has not only affected the start-up industry; a survey by a managed solution services provider PT Teltranet Aplikasi Solusi (Telkomtelstra) found that 36 percent of business leaders in Indonesia said talent and skills shortages had hampered their efforts to digitize their businesses. The survey involved 350 Indonesian decision makers from 12 industries such as manufacturing, banking and tourism.
Mutiara said unlike in universities, which only made infrequent changes to their curriculum, Dicoding could do so in a matter of weeks to fit the needs of the industry. More than 100,000 people across 490 cities have enrolled in the Dicoding academy, she said, with some of its more advanced classes charging fees starting from Rp 500,000 per month.
The students range in terms of age, some as young as 12 years old, with varying occupations not exclusive to the IT field, Mutiara said.
The limited talent pool has also prompted the Communications and Information Ministry to offer digital talent scholarships and big companies to roll out their own boot camps and academies, including tech giant Apple with its Apple Academy, which recently wrapped up its second batch.
A second-batch graduate of the academy, Thoa Ay Hok, 46, a manager at a financial company, said he had decided to take the training given the growing presence of disruptive technology and the specific promise of the digital industry. He said such an academy could provide a simulator for a real-world digital industry environment as compared with formal education.
“The digital industry here is heavily funded by venture capital and also supported by the government, including the strategic initiative to appoint Nadiem [Makarim] as the education and culture minister,” said Ay Hok, who has developed two mobile applications, one of which is to assist the mobility of people with visual impairment.
Hopes are high that the appointment of Nadiem, cofounder and former chief executive officer of Gojek, will give a breath of fresh air to the country’s education scene by adapting it to the latest digital developments.
Indonesia E-Commerce Association human capital development head Sofian Lusa expressed the hope that Nadiem, who oversees early to higher education, could adjust the curriculum to the needs of the digital industry.
“The purpose of coding schools is not only to meet the industry’s need for coders, but also to allow students to learn logical thinking from early on,” he said.
The Education and Culture Ministry’s acting director general for higher education, Nizam, said the ministry would continue to strengthen initiatives to produce more creators rather than mere consumers of digital innovation, adding that Nadiem had emphasized a number of skill sets, such as coding, big data analytics, artificial intelligence and the internet of things.
Purwa Hartono, founder and president director of Purwadhika coding school, which has been running for more than 30 years, said there had indeed been a rise in the number of such schools in Indonesia.
He attributed this to the increasing demand from the industry, quoting the catchphrase “data is the new oil”, and people, given the promising salaries offered to digital talent — prompting even professionals to change careers.
Amid the growing popularity, he also suggested Indonesia tap its full potential by introducing coding to students as early as elementary school, following in the footsteps of Singapore, to fulfill the needs of digitalized industries.
