The majority of elementary to high school graduates did not have many options as they were unable to consider higher education for financial reasons. Their options are jobs in the informal sector, such as becoming an ojek driver or a street vendor, or jumping directly into the labour market with a risk of getting stuck in a low-paid job. Or, becoming unemployed.

“An elementary and high school education is not enough. It must be complimented with [training at a] vocational training center [BLK],” he said in Jakarta on Thursday, adding that the government would revitalize the BLKs to meet with industry demands. Currently 30 per cent of BLK participants are SMK graduates that have been accepted by a company but then sent to BLKs to update their skills.

For the unemployed, or those working in informal sectors, BLKs enable them to fit into the industry. For those stuck in low-paid jobs, they can gain additional skills by joining a BLK and try for a promotion, or leave their job and start their own business.

There are currently 279 BLKs in the country, which managed by the central government and regional administrations. However, based on the latest Manpower Ministry survey, there were only 52 well-operated BLKs, including 19 managed by the central government.

“These BLKs play pivotal roles in helping the work force win against ongoing competition. President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo has implied two main points about BLKs; they should be focused and grow bigger,” Hanif said.

Five plans

Therefore, the ministry will update BLKs with five plans in an attempt to give Indonesia’s workforce a major upgrade in a short timeframe. First, the programs will be made bigger. Those who are at school age should be in the school, and those who are at productive age must join in vocational training.

In the past, it was not easy for the workforce to find vocational training. Polytechnic schools only accepted senior high school graduates, while vocational high schools ( SMK ) only accepted junior high school graduates.

“Previously, BLKs required SMK graduation certificates. Thus, they failed to absorb the swelling number of elementary and junior high school graduates. Therefore, we have recently abolished the requirement of an SMK certificate,” Hanif said.

Second, BLKs will be reoriented with priority being placed on sectors such as manufacturing and tourism. The training syllabus at BLKs will be based on the needs of prioritized, thriving industries.

Third, BLKs will be revitalized, not only by renewing equipment and buildings, but also by aligning programs with the latest educational theory.

“Fourth, BLKs will be rebranded. BLKs in fact have a generally good image, but if you ask people further about what BLK are like, they will think about monochrome TV sets, old motorcycles and outdated equipment and curriculums,” Hanif explained.

To reshape this image, BLKs will be transformed into BLK-Pros, which do not only focus on creating experts such as mobile phone repairers, but also on smartphone production skills. The technology has been transferred here from Switzerland and Norway.

Fifth, the private sector parties will be asked to invest in the training centers and to jointly manage them, revitalizing the underperformed ones.

“There are some BLKs that have been revitalized, such as the one in Kupang, NTT [East Nusa Tenggara]. It was almost abandoned and really in bad shape, but then it started to be co-managed by Toyota Motors. They provides the equipment as well as the instructors,” he said.

Sudamala Group, meanwhile, co-manages a BLK in Labuan Bajo, Komodo Island, to support their hotel there. Rather than bringing workers from Bali, which is costly and not sustainable, they chose to invest in the training center and develop the local workforce.

Several foreign investors have joined the program, such as a Dutch investor that co-manages BLKs in the maritime industry. Several of those, including in Serang, have been run in cooperation with a Swiss investor, and a BLK in Bekasi is managed by a Japanese investor.

Another form of cooperation with the private sector is in internships and apprenticeships, Hanif said, in cooperation with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry ( Kadin ). In the initial stage, there will be 200,000 interns and apprentices sent to 2,000 companies.

Limited budget

Hanif underlined the importance of public-private partnerships to support his program, saying the state budget allocation for the BLK program nationwide was still small. “It is true that the government allocated 20 per cent of the budget for education, but that is a raw number,” he said.

In total, the allocation equals Rp 414 trillion ( US$31.4 billion ), of which Rp 250 trillion goes toward teacher salaries. The remaining Rp 150 trillion, Rp 140 trillion is divided between three ministries: the Culture and Education Ministry, the Religious Affairs Ministry and the Research, Technology and Higher Education Ministry.

Only Rp 10 trillion is allocated to equipment, facilities, program development, etc. However, Rp 9 trillion of that goes to 16 institutions for state-owned schools such as STAN and STSN. Only the remaining Rp 1 trillion is allocated to vocational training, or less than 0.1 per cent of GDP.

“Developed countries on average allocate 0.5 to 0.6 per cent of GDP to vocational training. OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] members on average allocate 0.6 per cent of GDP,” Hanif said.

Therefore, public-private partnership is needed, he said. It is common practice internationally, such as in Scandinavian countries where the government provides 30 per cent of total vocational training costs while the remaining 70 per cent comes from private companies.

“Currently, the partnership between private and government is being discussed in Cabinet. We are waiting for technical reports,” Hanif explained.

As for the professional certificates, in a bid to guarantee the quality of BLK graduates, the government will employ the National Profession Certification Body ( BNSP ) to issue the certificates along with Profession Certification Bodies ( LSPs ).

The LSP will establish a competence testing center ( TUK ) to test the skills BLK trainees before they receive their certificates.

With these five strategies, Hanif is optimistic that Indonesia will be able to catch up with other Aseancountries in terms of workforce quality.

Private consumption, weighing in at more than 58 per cent of the gross domestic product ( GDP ) value in the period, expanded 4.94 per cent, another below-5-per cent growth. Investment expanded 4.24 per cent while government spending grew by only 2.93 per cent yoy versus 7.31 per cent recorded in the previous quarter.

However, this year’s start was better than that of the same period last year when the economy grew by 4.73 per cent yoy, said Central Statistic Agency ( BPS ) head Suryamin when announcing the GDP growth at his office in Central Jakarta on Wednesday.

“Economic activities have just started in the first quarter,” he said, adding that the economy started moving faster in the second and third quarter thanks to holiday celebrations and government spending.

The first quarter figure is well below analysts and the government’s projection. Bank Indonesia ( BI ) expects to see the economy expand 5.1 per cent this quarter, while analysts and the market project growth of between 5.01 per cent and 5.2 per cent.

The headline number came in below market expectations, DBS Bank economist Gundy Cahyadi admitted.

“Investment growth is the key downside risk to our GDP growth forecast this year, especially since private sector investment is not expected to recover by much until we are in the second half of this year,” he wrote in a research note.

He penciled in 5.2 per cent full-year growth, slightly below the government’s target of 5.3 per cent.

Indonesia’s economy, the largest in the Southeast Asia, expanded by only 4.8 per cent last year, the slowest since the 2009 financial crisis.

Saigon Co.op has begun to buy fish caught offshore and certified as safe by authorities at the Gianh River fishing port in Quang Binh.

Vo Hoang Anh, Saigon Co.op’s marketing director, said Co.opmart bought around 20 tonnes on Sunday, mainly round scad and blue fish.

Co.opmart’s own quality management division also collaborated with agencies and fishing boat owners to get samples tested at the Centre for Quality Assurance of Agro-Forestry and Fisheries Products in region 2, he said.

Last month, massive fish deaths were reported along beaches in four coastal central provinces: Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue.As of April 25, as many as 70 tonnes of dead fish were reported.

On April 27, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment announced initial investigations into the incident, blaming it on toxic chemicals released by human activities on land or at sea, along with the red tie phenomenon – when dangerous algae occurs at an abnormal rate and produces toxins.

Hoang Thi Thuan, director of Thuan Loi Co., Ltd, said her company bought five tonnes of various fish and would continue to buy them.

Hoang Nom, owner of a fishing boat, said his boat docked at the Gianh River fishing port with 21 tonnes of fishes, and he was pleased when they were bought by Phuoc Sang Company for nearly 400 million dong (US$17,937).

Hoang Thi Huong, director of Phuoc Sang Company, said her company plans to buy a large amount of seafood to support the fishermen.

Nguyen Xuan Dat, head of Quang Binh’s Market Management Department, said the province would work to prevent traders from lowering fish prices.

Tran Dinh Du, deputy director of the Quang Binh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said fishermen sold 100 tonnes of seafood on April 30 and May 1, with Saigon Co.op accounting for 20 per cent.

Hundreds of offshore fishing vessels would return in the next few days with possibly thousands of tonnes of fish, and the province would strive to find more outlets for them in other cities and provinces.

“With the support of businesses and traders, fishermen in Quan Quang Binh Province will surely feel secure about going offshore for fishing,” Du said.

At Thach Kim fishing port in Ha Tinh Province, seafood trading has returned to normal.

The local Thien Phu Co-operative has promised to take on a share of the fishermen’s burdens.

Tran Thi Tu, owner of Toan Tu, a local seafood trader, said she never stopped buying and was prepared to buy any quantity of fish, octopus and cuttlefish.

According to the Ha Tinh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the department has established a working group of 30 members to direct the sale of seafood and certify its safety.

The Department of Industry and Trade has urged seafood processors to buy more safe fish from local fishermen.

PM orders solutions

The relief followed a spate of measures taken by the government in the last few days in the wake of the serious and unusual mass fish deaths that swept the central coastal region in early April.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has assigned tasks to ministries and localities, and ordered that specific measures must be deployed to deal with the consequences of massive fish deaths, and to avoid similar environmental disasters.

He chaired a working session with affected localities on Sunday in the central Ha Tinh Province.

Deputy Prime Ministers Trinh Dinh Dung and Vu Duc Dam, and leaders of ministries and state agencies, were among the attendees at the session.

The prime minister urged ministers to seek solutions so that fishermen can continue fishing as usual, while assigning the Ministry of Science and Technology to work with relevant ministries and sectors to determine the cause of the fish deaths and call for help from foreign experts, if necessary.

Violations by any organisation or individual must be brought to light, based upon scientific evidence, he said, adding that the government was determined to protect the legitimate interests of residents.

Additionally, fishermen would be assisted in terms of materials and fish sales, he said.

In another move, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) Tran Hong Ha has set up an inspection team, which includes domestic and foreign experts, to independently monitor and analyse wastewater released to the sea by enterprises beginning on May 5. The inspection will focus on the area around the Vung Ang economic zone in Ha Tinh Province.

The Minister of Science and Technology was asked to co-ordinate with the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and other agencies to reach a scientific and independent conclusion on the causes of the incident, based on which MoNRE will report to the PM in order to impose strict punishments on any violating individuals or organisations.

MoNRE and affected local authorities will re-check all waste-discharging manufacturing bases as well as strengthen the inspection of coastal industrial production facilities.

MoNRE and Ha Tinh authorities must report on the licensing of the Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh steel company and the supervision of its waste discharge system.

In order to control Formosa’s discharge, he suggested immediately placing an automatic monitoring station in the company that connects with a similar one launched by the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

The Ministry of Public Security will continue investigating cases of environmental violations in the central region while strictly dealing with cases that took advantage of the incident to disturb social safety and order.

The ministries of Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Natural Resources and Environment, were asked to publicise a list of safe fishing grounds in mass media outlets.

Affected fishermen will be entitled to debt waivers, rescheduling or reduction, as well as new loans at preferential rates.

The government leaders also agreed on proposals to offer 22.5kg of rice to each affected household, 5 million dong to each fishing vessel and low-cost loans to fishery households.

(US$1 = 22,295 dong)

Love, Bonito’s open-plan office, which boasts a 4,000 sq ft warehouse, in-house photo studio and large pantry, was created with the millennial worker in mind.

Tables are shared, with no cubicle divisions. In a corner sits a table overflowing with snacks. Propped against a wall is a corkboard titled #LBempowers, covered in colourful post-its highlighting the goals and desires of team members, including wanting to learn Muay Thai and throwing a durian party.

What started as a blogshop called BonitoChico, when Viola Tan was a teacher and Lim a student, has morphed into a multi-million- dollar e-commerce business that employs a team of passionate millennials.

The founders say they choose to hire people close to their age because that is the demographic of its customers. Moreover, a business that mainly markets and sells its products online requires tech- savvy workers, who tend to be young.

Because everyone in the office is close in age, the hierarchy is flattened and the atmosphere casual and relaxed.

But that does not mean the bosses will not step in when employees cross the line. Two people have been fired. The first was caught stealing merchandise while the other was found constantly gossiping and spreading malicious rumours among the team.

Lim says: “We believe in giving second chances, but as leaders, it is also important to set a strong example. We have a trust- based work environment that we are very protective of and it was important that we let it be known that detrimental and toxic behaviour would not be tolerated.”

Both of them are daughters of taxi drivers and had no background in business. Their journey has been one of trial and error, but experience has made them better at managing teams and people their own age.

Lim, who is engaged, says: “While one person might be motivated by a pat on the back, another may respond better to a handwritten card. When working with millennials, I’ve realised that you can’t rely on a one-size-fits-all management style.”

Tan, who is single and a self- confessed introvert, adds that millennials also enjoy interacting with their bosses because they expect their superiors to be invested in their development.

“That has forced me to open up and interact more with my team,” she says, “especially when these interactions are ultimately what helps them feel valued and motivated at work.”