(FEB NEWS) Friday, September 1, 2023, from the Fajar Notonegoro Hall, the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Airlangga (FEB UNAIR) held a guest lecture entitled “Breaking Vicious Circle of Poverty with Education: Case in Malaysia”, with the speaker Prof. Dr. M. Firdaus, SP., M.Si – Education and Cultural Attaché of the Republic of Indonesia Representative in Kuala Lumpur. Acting as moderator, the Head of the Department of Economics, FEB UNAIR – Prof. Rossanto Dwi Handoyo, SE, M.Si., Ph.D. The event was opened by the Dean of FEB UNAIR, Prof. Dian Agustia, SE, M.Si., AK., CMA., CA. in front of more than 150 students of the faculty of economics and business from undergraduate, master's, to doctoral levels.
Prof. Firdaus presented numerous facts on the ground regarding the conditions of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia that are still largely unknown. Migrant workers, who have long been considered contributors to the country's foreign exchange, actually carry high social costs, including the risk of torture, sexual violence, AIDS, divorce, and so on. Furthermore, many migrant workers marry without legal documents, giving rise to structural ignorance issues as a result of the difficulty of accessing proper education for their children. One clear example is the large number of 13-year-olds who are illiterate. Aware of this, the Indonesian government entered into an agreement with the Malaysian government to provide access to education for the children of undocumented migrant workers, resulting in a 70% increase in the number of new students by 2023.
Another fact is that East Java province is the main contributor of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia. According to Prof. Firdaus, the main attraction for migrant workers is the higher income difference compared to working domestically. In fact, Indonesia, especially East Java, has great potential in the agricultural sector, but the level of education and skills of its human resources is still low, resulting in minimal innovation. Therefore, the Indonesian government will strive to break the cycle of poverty among these migrant workers by providing access to proper education for their children, which will hopefully improve their families' economic conditions.
At the end of the event, he advised the students to participate in breaking the cycle of poverty and ignorance by providing access to proper education for underprivileged children. He believes that education is a bridge to foster innovation and creative ideas among the nation's children, capable of leading to positive change.
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