Jakarta (voinews.id): Deputy Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Lestari Moerdijat has called for efforts to increase college graduates' skills and knowledge to help them meet the demands of the job market.

This is also important for preparing productive, qualified human resources in order to keep up with the global competition, she said in a statement received here on Friday.

"Admittedly, to live up to a profession to the fullest, one needs a number of skills to be able to do that profession properly," she added.

According to the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry, only 20 percent of university graduates pursue work related to the major they studied.

Moreover, as per data from Statistics Indonesia, 8.4 million people, or 5.83 percent of Indonesia’s total working-age population of 208.54 million, were unemployed in February 2022. Of the 8.4 million, 14 percent were diploma and bachelors degree holders.

Moerdijat said she is confident that thorough preparation through the collaboration of several stakeholders is necessary to ensure that graduates of tertiary education can find employment once they meet the demands of the job market.

Thus, she called for practical programs to be hosted on an extensive scale so as to improve university graduates' competencies and address the disparity between their actual skills and industry demands.

Moerdijat said she believes that in the long term, national education that creates great and productive human resources will be required.

She also called for better collaboration between universities and the industry for creating capable and competitive citizens.

She urged stakeholders at the central and regional levels to be committed to fulfilling the daily nutritional needs and medical services of every child as well.

She said she is optimistic that the combination of adequate nutrition from an early age and an education system that can meet the demands of the job market will result in strong and competitive human resources. (Antaranews)