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Badri Munir Sukoco
Professor of the Faculty of Economics and Business
Director of Graduate School
Airlangga University
https://mediaindonesia.com/opini/458130/trendsetter-dan-pembangunan-sdm-indonesia
Humans are the most important resource of a country. Having a young population (65% under 40 years β Population Census 2020) with the 7th largest in the world is Indonesia's big capital. Quality human resources will enable Indonesia to become a developed country in 2045.
Human resource development has become the first and foremost priority of the President. Earlier this month President Joko Widodo emphasized that Indonesian human resources should be (and not ). of course related to innovation, and the capability to innovate requires the right direction of human resource development. Higher education is the starting point.
How to orchestrate higher education so that Indonesian human resources become ?
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Based on the Higher Education Statistics 2020, there are 29.413 study programs held in Indonesia. Academic-based study programs still dominate (88,33% or 25.987 units). Most study programs are still dominated by the field of Education (6.032 units), followed by Engineering, Social, Health and Economics. The field of education has the largest number of new students (435.986 people), followed by Economics, Social Affairs, Engineering, Health, and other disciplines.
The largest college graduates came from Education (21,84%), followed by Economics (18,92%), Engineering (16,02%), Health (15,56%), Social (13,95%), and the rest came from other fields. The question is, is the popularity of these study programs relevant and in line with Indonesia's current and future needs?
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Many governments focus on STEM-based education in their countries (π ππππππ, , , ). Recognizing the lack of interest of the younger generation in the STEM field and the threat of the nation's competitiveness, President Obama launched a program in 2011 to educate 100.000 teachers who will teach the STEM field until 2021. Of course, this is accompanied by funding commitments, not only from the government but also from the private sector.
Through heated public debate, both pros and cons, finally the USA Education Reform Act was signed by President Obama at the end of 2015, with an emphasis on STEM Education. The goal is how to make the younger generation of the United States (US) become leaders in the STEM field.
What about other countries? πΌππππ£ππ‘πππ πΌππππ₯ (GII) 2021 data shows South Korea topped the list in Asia (#5 in the world), followed by Singapore (#8), China (#12), and Japan (#13). This is inseparable from the large proportion of graduates produced, for example Singapore occupies #10 in the world, followed by India (#12), and South Korea (#18). It is not surprising that many CEOs of the world's technology companies are from India or high-tech products from South Korea. How about Indonesia? We occupy #76 of the world.
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Of course, it is interesting to observe the increase in China's position to #12 out of 132 countries (the highest in the -ππππππ group). Ten years ago, his position was still #29. When Abrami et al. (2014) wrote an article entitled βπβπ¦ 'π‘ β in , most of them believed it. But gradually the digital market, medical equipment, and even began to be controlled by Chinese companies.
One of the indicators for GII 2021 is . In the last 25 years, China has seriously increased its innovation capabilities, especially human resources, by developing higher education institutions (PT) to become world class. Started 211 in 1995, 9 , and most recently -πΆπππ π with huge funding. As a result, in 2021 China places 6 universities in the Top 100 . The highest university from Malaysia is in the range of 301-350, while Indonesia is in the range of 801-1000.
2017 data shows that 3 million students are enrolled in STEM programs. And become one of the countries with the largest percentage in this field. Not only relying on graduates from within the country, but graduates from world-class universities in developed countries β the approach β is carried out (Greeven et al., 2019). Since 1978, 4 million people have studied abroad and 2,2 million graduates have returned to China. (returning diaspora) is becoming an important player in China's innovation ecosystem, with training received from the world's best universities. Even before returning, he worked for various world-class companies, especially Silicon Valley, and brought both -π’π and business models from 500 domestically. As a result, domestic companies are able to compete with world-class companies from developed countries.
The next indicator is the R&D budget allocated by each country. The biggest spender was the United States (US$491,86 billion), followed by China (US$471,70 billion) and Japan (US$154,16 billion). Meanwhile, Indonesia is only US$3,11 billion (0,10% of GDP). The result is clear, where patent applications from these countries are far superior to Indonesia. Japan has more than 7.005 patent applications compared to Indonesia, while Malaysia has 90 times with a 13 times higher percentage of R&D budget. China is the world's largest patent applicant, beating the US. The lesson is that world-class universities produce competent human resources and world-class patents, supported by a large R&D budget, making innovation a necessity.
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To ensure its leadership in technology, the πΆβπππ 2025 program is continued with 2035 (a kind of Repelita in Indonesia). The government also assigned 12 top PTs to develop . Its main task is to research and develop revolutionary and disruptive technologies in the next 10-15 years. Its existence is targeted to be able to compete with (MIT) and in future technologies.
Life and health technology is the focus of on . Its existence is centered on 2 interdisciplinary fields, namely biomedical engineering and molecular medicine. In collaboration with ππ and MIT, ππππ£πππ ππ‘π¦ ππ will open 2 new study programs, namely and . As for assigned to develop . The establishment of is the first step to prepare China's human resources to excel in future technology.
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Education is a long-term investment, and orchestration of resources is needed to strengthen Indonesia as . Selecting, sorting, and modifying existing study programs, assigning the establishment of future-oriented study programs, and even closing them if they are not relevant are mandatory. Not necessarily what is popular today is needed by future graduates. Providing a long-term vision for education is a must, especially in supporting the achievement of Advanced Indonesia 2045. Of course without leaving national values. What strategic industries will be Indonesia's advantages in the future can be used as a reference. And of course the long-term funding commitment provides certainty and sustainability of the nation's competitiveness in the future.
#economic transformation #leadership #SDM development #IndonesiaMaju