Questioning the Benefits of Preemployment Cards

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

People register online through the website prakerja.go.id for the preemployment card program at a command post of the East Java Manpower and Transmigration Agency in Surabaya, East Java, on Monday (13/4/2020). By joining the preemployment card, participants will get free training and Rp 3.55 million each for four months.

An old idiom says that it is better to teach someone to fish than it is to give them a fish. It seems that this concept is the basis for the government’s Pre-employment Card program. This program was introduced on the basis that it is better than giving social aid for direct cash that can either be misused or spent too quickly.

Nevertheless, since the program’s inception, debates have ensued on the tender process, which some believe is not in line with the government’s goods and services procurement policy. The problem is that the tender process for learning service providers in the program began in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Based on the plan, the program was to begin in January 2020.

Then, the government appointed eight online learning service providers as partners, namely Ruangguru, MauBelajarApa, HarukaEdu, PijarMahir, Sekolah.mu, Sisnaker, Tokopedia and Bukalapak. Furthermore, four digital payment service providers, BNI, OVO, Gopay and Linkaja, were involved in managing transactions in the program.

Conflict began over the presence of former presidential special staffer Adamas Belva Syah Devara, who founded and served as Ruangguru CEO at the time. Recently, Belva resigned from his position as presidential special staffer. Nevertheless, the debates persist.

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The government has tried to address questions of transparency in the program’s procurement process through regulations. However, questions remain. The Pre-employment Card program is based on Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 36/2020 on developing professional competency through the program, which was launched on 28 February 2020.

Moreover, two other regulations reinforce the program. First is Finance Minister’s Regulation No. 25/PMK.05/2020 on fund allocation, budgeting, disbursement and accountability procedures on the pre-employment card program, issued on 24 March 2020. Second is Office of the Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister’s Regulation No. 3/2020 on developing professional competency through pre-employment card program, issued on 27 March 2020. Then, on 31 March 2020, Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) No. 1/2020 on economic solutions amid crises due to pandemics was issued. Upon closer look, Finance Minister’s Regulation No. 25/PMK.05/2020 and Office of the Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister’s Regulation No. 3/2020 became urgent after the issuance of Perppu No. 1/2020. The Perppu contains rules of emergency that enable the imposition of government policies for economic crises.

This emergency narrative makes the launch of the Pre-employment Card program amid a pandemic look normal. However, traces of agreement letters and other publications on the appointment of the eight online learning service providers and four digital payment service providers remain hard to find.

Until today, no documentation of the program’s procurement process, including its registration, selection and tender stages, can be found in the government’s goods and services procurement auction archives on https://lpse.lkpp.go.id/eproc4/lelang.

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

Factory workers go to work despite the Covid-19 outbreak in Ungaran, Semarang regency, Central Java, on Thursday (16/4/2020). The government has begun to issue preemployment cards as part of its efforts to deal with the economic impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.

A lack of transparency in the procurement process has led to further polemic as it involves a considerable portion of the state budget. The government has earmarked Rp 20 trillion (US$1.34 billion),

or around 4.9 percent of the total government budget for pandemic mitigation, which is Rp 405.1 trillion.

Of this Rp 20 trillion, some Rp 19.88 trillion is used for benefits and incentives for recipients. Each of the 5.6 million participants registering and randomly selected for eligibility in the program receives Rp 3.55 million. The rest of the budget is for operations.

To address this, Pre-Employment Card program management boards’ communication director Panji Winanteya Ruky said that the tender process for the program’s online learning service providers was open.

However, eight training service providers were chosen for the program’s initial stage and will be evaluated. In other words, the government’s doors are still open for other training service providers to join the program and be selected by the program’s management board, which was formed on 17 March 2020.

Crisis as opportunity

Other than the issue of transparency in goods and services procurement, many are saying that the Pre-employment Card was launched at the wrong time, namely during a pandemic. Indonesian Workers Federations Association (Aspek) President Mirah Sumirat said that the government forced its decision to implement the program right now. The program is not the proper solution for workers who are terminated and end up unemployed during the pandemic.

Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) research Ahmad Heri Firdaus shared this sentiment. The program should have gone through a trial period instead of being immediately launched as a solution for social problems. A proper trial period should have been at a time without a pandemic or an economic crisis.

Several economic sectors are practically in suspended animation right now, leading to a lack of jobs. This fact is contradictory with the various forms of training and certification available in the Pre-employment Card program. The availability of jobs is a huge question that will linger after the pandemic ends and economic difficulties remain.

Manpower Ministry data shows that, as of 20 April 2020, 116,370 companies have been affected by the pandemic.

As we know, hundreds of thousands of companies have been affected by the pandemic and forced to fire or furlough employees. Manpower Ministry data shows that, as of 20 April 2020, 116,370 companies have been affected by the pandemic.

Some 84,926 companies (73 percent) are in the formal sector, while the other 31,444 companies (27 percent) are in the informal sector. Manpower-wise, 1,546,208 workers in the formal sector have been either terminated or furloughed.

The clash between job availability and employment number is not addressed effectively by the Pre-employment Card program. Referring to Perpres No. 36/2020, the pre-employment card concept in Point A (Considerations) cites that the program is aimed at expanding job opportunities and improving workers’ productivity and competitiveness by providing them professional competency development opportunities.

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Therefore, the program is especially aimed at those who have just graduated and are not yet working as it is highly useful to help them improve their competency before entering the workforce.

Synchronization between training and professional demand is a chronic issue in resolving unemployment in Indonesia.

For terminated or furloughed workers, cash assistance is more urgent nowadays. Moreover, the online courses in the program may not be in line with their professional needs. Synchronization between training and professional demand is a chronic issue in resolving unemployment in Indonesia.

Excellent human resources

As of 16 April 2020, data showed that 5,965,048 accounts were registered in the program’s first and second waves. Meanwhile, 3,294,190 had verified their ID numbers. In response to the enthusiasm, the program’s management board will focus on adding more training service providers and making them more varied.

Government’s openness in goods and services procurement is highly needed to allay public suspicion and counter narratives of distrust. This serves as an important lesson for other programs, both in times of emergency and normal times.

Moreover, the e-government concept that has been publicly announced for a long time should enable government transparency both in terms of behavior and online practices freely accessible by the public.

Other than because cash assistance is temporary in nature, such a safety net is also prone to corrupt practices within the bureaucracy.

There are surely thorough considerations behind the government’s decision to not provide direct cash assistance. Other than because cash assistance is temporary in nature, such a safety net is also prone to corrupt practices within the bureaucracy. Surely this can be anticipated by “teaching people to fish”, as in, giving them lessons to help them sustain their households’ finances.

As a human resource development effort, the Pre-employment Card program provides fresh air to improve Indonesia’s human resources. This is especially because human development in Indonesia remains below those of other ASEAN countries.

The United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) 2019 Human Development Index places Indonesian human resources at rank 111 out of 189 countries. This is below Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

However, in a time of crisis like the current COVID-19 pandemic, the government must focus on crisis endurance in helping the people. Learning from the 1998 economic crisis mitigation efforts, in facing the current crisis, the government must focus on maintaining affordable food prices and the purchasing power of the people, especially the poor, as well as striving to keep open access to education and health care.

If the Pre-employment Card is not launched during a crisis, it can be a relevant and effective strategy. The program’s main point of consideration is to develop the Indonesian workforce’s competency and produce professionally excellent human resource. Nevertheless, it must be emphasized that excellent workers who are taught how to fish also needs “pools of water” where they can get “fish” for their daily lives. (KOMPAS R&D)