In the process of new student admissions there is no new trend among millennials in choosing study programs at a number of colleges.
Despite the fact that the situation has changed considerably compared to 10-20 years ago and digital technology has also been growing rapidly in recent years, with millennials very familiar with, even very dependent on, smart devices, there has been no change in the preferences in choosing study programs. The programs that are popularly chosen by 12th grade students are almost the same as in the last few years.
Based on data from the Research, Technology and Higher Education Ministry, the highest number of study programs offered at state and privately run universities is currently education courses, with 5,023. Most of those education programs are offered at private universities and only 1,622 education programs are offered by state universities.
The second most popular study program is social sciences with 2,975; followed by technology with 2,884 programs; economics with 2,126 programs and religion with 1,243 study programs.
Education has become the favorite in recent years after the government disbursed higher allowances for teachers amounting to one month of salary since 2007 as mandated by Law No. 14/2005 on teachers and lecturers. Following the disbursement of the allowance, the number of high school graduates who are interested in becoming teachers has increased significantly.
This phenomenon has seen the establishment of a number of teacher training institutions (LPTK) in several regions. The number of students in education programs has soared to reach 1.4 million students today. This is the highest number of students compared with other studies programs.
Our question is: shouldn’t the number of education programs be limited so that there isn’t a surplus in graduates? This does not mean limiting the interests of people wanting to become educators, but simply to prevent a surplus of graduates who are then not absorbed by the labor market.
This is not just the case with education programs, it would also be appropriate to conduct an in-depth evaluation of other study programs. This evaluation should certainly take into account the need for experts by the nation for the next 20-30 years. It would be good if the government started limiting study programs in which the number of students is excessive. If necessary, the government could close programs at certain universities.
Furthermore, the government needs to wisely calculate the need for experts in the future by taking into account the development of digital technology. We have to ensure experts are available in the country so that the demand for experts is not met by foreign workers. Here, universities also need to be wise when opening new study programs to ensure they are in line with the nation\'s needs in the future.