Education is Key to Demographic Bonus

Kompas, page 12

Education has a strategic role in improving the quality of human resources in order to take advantage of the demographic bonus of the productive age population. The young generation is expected to sustain continued economic development that has grown well in the last 10 years.

This was conveyed by Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati in a scientific speech “Building Higher Education Reputation through the Management of Human Resources of Integrity and Competitive” in the auditorium of the State University of Semarang (Unnes) in Semarang, Central Java, on Thursday (30/3). The event was the culmination of activities of the 52^nd Anniversary of Unnes.

Sri Mulyani said, from about 255 million people in Indonesia, the population of productive age is still dominant. The economic growth trend of 5.6 percent in the last 10 years, according to Sri, must be maintained by relying on human resources (HR) with purchasing power, who are productive, innovative, and competitive. She emphasized skills or soft skills as important in the development of human resources. In 2017, she continued, the government disbursed Rp 39.8 trillion through the Ministry of Education and Culture, Rp 38.7 trillion through the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education, Rp 50.4 trillion through the Ministry of Religious Affairs, as well as Rp 12.8 trillion through a number of other ministries.

In a separate event, Rector of the University of Prasetiya Mulya (UPM) Djisman Simanjuntak said that the role of universities is not enough just to produce graduates who are ready to work, but must be able to think critically in order to seek alternative options in solving the various problems of the nation and the world.   Higher education institutions (PT), he continued, need to reposition themselves, it is no longer enough to run Tridarma, namely education, research, and service, but also having the responsibility to catalyze business or pioneering business, and should cooperate with the business world.