Accelerating Human Development Towards Indonesia’s Golden Era

On Aug. 16 in his State of the Nation Address, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo stressed the importance of developing “superior” human resources that could compete globally.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Students watch a theatrical presentation entitled "Trap for Mice with Ties" by artist Rasyidin Wig Maroe at SD VI state elementary school in Mojosongo, Surakarta, Central Java, Monday (9/12/2019). This activity was held to commemorate World Anticorruption Day.

In developing the quality of human resources using new methods, the demographic dividend that will peak in 2021-2022 is expected to help Indonesia make a big leap in its progress.

The United Nations Development Agency (UNDP) placed Indonesia in the group of countries with a high human development index (HDI) in 2018, with its HDI value of 0.707.

Even though Indonesia’s ranking increased five places compared to 2017, the country still ranks 111th out of 189 countries. Indonesia still ranks lower than the Philippines at 106th.

Without accelerated human resource development, Indonesia could be overtaken and left behind by other countries. Improving the quality of human resources also needs to be directed well so the Indonesian people will be able not only to determine their lives, but also to help drive the economy and increase its competitiveness.

Indonesia still ranks lower than the Philippines at 106th.

Indonesia will have population of 269.6 million next year, and in the “golden era” of 2045, it will have an estimated population of 309 million. At present, 68.7 percent of the Indonesian population is of the productive age between 15 and 64 years.

Offering quality education and providing prosperous employment are major challenges for the government. Failure in these two things can risk the demographic bonus and leave Indonesia unable to move from a middle-income nation to a high-income, advanced country by 2045.

KOMPAS/MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO

Students of SMP 5 state junior high school in Purwokerto, Banyumas, Central Java, color anticorruption posters at his school in commemoration of World Anticorruption Day, Monday (9/12/2019). The spirit of trustworthiness is instilled early on to fight corruption.

Providing an education that builds character, which will equip students with the competency in the skills demanded by industry, is a huge challenge that must be resolved immediately. Without equipping students with hard skills and soft skills, they will be vulnerable to being replaced by automation and digitalization that demand high skills and efficiency.

McKinsey & Company’s global research indicates that automated machines will replace about 23 million jobs (16 percent) in Indonesia by 2030. However, with competent and adaptable human resources in Industry 4.0, Indonesia will benefit from between 27 million and 46 million new jobs that will be created during the automation era by 2030.

Competency-based vocational training will help improve the workforce, which is currently dominated by workers with senior high school education or lower. About 40.51 percent of workers have elementary school education.

Preparing those still in school to become quality workers is a major challenge for the government, considering that the average Indonesian student still scores below the global average (PISA survey, 2018).

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Grade VI students of SDN 3 Karangwuni state elementary school attend teaching and learning activities in Karangwuni village, Sedong district, Cirebon regency, West Java, Wednesday (27/11/2019). There are only six students in Grade VI class. The Grade I class has 2 students, Grade II (9 students), Grade IV (6 students), and Grade V (3 students).

Acceleration

Quality labor is born from quality education. The "Independent Learning" breakthrough program is expected to be the first step in accelerating the improvement of quality learning, which has remained stagnant. The program is expected to optimally increase to the intellectual intelligence of students, but also their emotional and spiritual intelligence. Smart human resources with character is an important asset in Industry 4.0.

The policy must be followed up with improving the quality of teachers, who are key to quality learning. The regulation on jobs in education must also be simplified. The skills students learn, especially at vocational schools, and industry demand must also be adjusted so they are integrated and match.

The discrepancy thus far between education and industry demand has led to soaring unemployment rates and left vocational school graduates without jobs for a longer time than graduates from regular schools.

University graduates are also facing a similar problem. In 2015, 48 percent of university graduates were working in jobs that required lower qualifications than their education. As much as 22 percent of university graduates are not working in fields related to their degrees, and 40 percent of university graduates are working in fields that require only general education.

Bridging the gap between higher education and the world of work and the need for innovation is the challenge in Industry 4.0. The capacity of students to adopt and apply science and technology toward innovation, which is still scores low at only 29.8 in the 2019 Global Innovation Index, needs improving. The score means that Indonesia ranks 85th out of 129 countries, or the second lowest ranked ASEAN country.

One-third of Indonesian children (from toddlers to adolescents) suffer stress.

Other population groups that need serious government attention are children. Stunting remains a serious problem that prevents them from developing mentally and becoming productive, and they need protection from the risk of degenerative diseases.

However, this critical issue, which has a long-term impact on the quality of Indonesian workers, has received very little attention from all sides. The national figure on cancer prevalence still remains high at 30.8 percent, above the global figure of 21 percent (Primary Health Research, 2018).

One-third of Indonesian children (from toddlers to adolescents) suffer stress. More effort is needed to reduce this to 19 percent by 2024 as the government has targeted.

Stunting is an issue that involves not only health, but also support infrastructure, parenting and national healthcare, which still focuses on curative measures.

In recent years, the government has made serious efforts to overcome the problem, such as by providing nutrition-specific intervention for children in the first 1,000 days of life (HPK). However, consistent efforts to accelerate programs are needed that involves synergy between related institutions and agencies.