“Documenting 75 years of resilience” is a series of special reports by The Jakarta Post to celebrate Indonesia’s Independence Day on Aug. 17, 1945.

The year 2020 is an important one for Indonesia, not only because it is the celebration of the country’s 75^th year of independence but also because it marks the beginning of the much-vaunted demographic bonus, which is expected to peak in the next 10 years.

With the working-age population reaching 70 percent of the total population by 2030, Indonesia hopes that the upcoming years will be the golden time to optimize its huge working-age group and maximize its economic productivity.

To reap the benefits of the demographic dividend and participate in Industry 4.0, it is pivotal for Indonesia to have high-skilled human capital. But right now, it is still not looking good.

The World Bank 2018 Human Capital Index, which assesses countries’ future productivity based on their education and health outcomes, ranks Indonesia 87^th of 157 countries with a score of 0.53.

“[The score] means that, on average, Indonesian workers of the next generation will be only 53 percent as productive as they could be under the benchmark of 14 years of learning and full health,” the World Bank said in a report titled “The Promise of Education in Indonesia”.

The education sector has benefited from the largest portion of state budget allocations for over a decade, but data has shown that this has not translated into better education performance among students.

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