Indonesia’s Manpower Minister, Yassierli, has emphasised the importance of teaching university students subjects related to productivity to enhance workforce growth in Indonesia, reported ANTARA news agency.
"Productivity-related lessons are required in the curriculum of higher education. Maybe we will begin including such lessons in the curriculum gradually," he remarked at the Seminar and National Coordination Meeting of the Association of Indonesian Academicians and Scientists (ASASI).
Speaking in Yogyakarta on Saturday (December 14), Yassierli noted that his suggestion had been discussed with Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro.
"My suggestion is that we start from engineering, meaning all majors, departments, and faculties related to engineering will have to include productivity in their curriculum," he pointed out.
The minister expressed optimism that the implementation of the suggestion would gradually increase the productivity rate of the Indonesian workforce, currently at an unfavoured level of 2.6 per cent, while alluding to Vietnam's higher productivity rate of 6.8 per cent.
"Universities in Vietnam have begun offering courses on productivity," he highlighted.
The Ministry of Manpower is currently in the process of formulating productivity-related subjects for college students and will coordinate with the Higher Education, Science, and Technology Ministry, he added.
"We are aiming for subjects that detail the definition of productivity and the ways to assess and boost productivity," he explained.
Yassierli further noted that the plan is to promote such subjects at private and public universities.
He then observed that the quality of the workforce is not the only aspect that factors into a country's productivity, pointing to the role of capital and technology.
Chairman of ASASI, Prof. Elfahmi, on his part, voiced his readiness to support the minister's academic initiative.
He said the ASASI is ready to cooperate with public and private universities across Indonesia to help boost the employment rate among college graduates.