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Unlocking Indonesia’s future-fit talent in an age of technological disruption
Education should help students understand their strengths and passions and, at the same time, stimulate curiosity.
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Education matters: Students of SDN 42 state elementary school in Banda Aceh, Special Region of Aceh, attend a class after a long Idul Fitri holiday on May 2, 2023. The first school day coincided with National Education Day. (Antara/Irwansyah Putra)
T
he world is at a crossroads. A global pandemic, economic recession and advanced technological developments are among the few game-changers. The Indonesian talent pool faces massive uncertainties and the national education system has not fully equipped it with the skills to turn these challenges into opportunities.
These problems can be viewed by understanding three prominent barriers: the unfit education system, efficiencies and leaner structures in industry and technological advancements to replace the human workforce.
The national education system needs to prepare the talent to adapt and thrive in an age of uncertainty. High-quality education is a deep-rooted issue in the existing education system. We have experienced how education forces students to memorize history, theory or even formulas to achieve higher grades. Text-book-based education systems appreciate individuals with higher grades and judge success or failure based on them.
The lack of context-based learning leads to a student learning process that neglects the importance of critical thinking and nurturing self-development. Recent research published by SMERU shows that Indonesian students' learning achievements do not improve despite moving up a grade. This problem is worrying for a country that aims to be globally competitive. Access to high-quality education is essential to ensure high-quality talent to compete in emerging markets such as the technology industry.
However, Indonesia's competitive talent index, shared by INSEAD, is still below that of its closest ASEAN competitors.
Education should help students understand their strengths and passions and, at the same time, stimulate curiosity. Grading indicators based on memorization may neglect their ability to adapt to the changing world. Moreover, a recent investigation by Kompas on academic-thesis jockeying has exposed this chronic problem in the Indonesian education system and with regard to future talent.
Students are no longer curious and passionate about further developing their potential but look for a shortcut to complete their education.
