President Jokowi: Higher Education Plays Crucial Role in Producing Outstanding Human Resources

INDUSTRY.co.id - Universities play a strategic role in cultivating high-quality Indonesian human resources, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said.

“I often mention the pivotal role of higher education in cultivating exceptional human resources, individuals who not only acquire knowledge mastery but also engage in continuous learning, physical, mental, and moral strength, and the ability to innovate and deliver high-quality work,” the President said in his remarks during the 29th Campus Convention and the 25th Annual Meeting of the Indonesian Chancellors Forum, at Graha Unesa, Surabaya, East Java, Monday (01/15).

According to the President, higher education institutions could also play their role as research institutions as they have a significant number of lecturers, research staff, and students to advance science, technology, and innovation to address the nation’s challenges.

“I will order the National Research and Innovation Agency (NRIA) to collaborate with the National Development Planning Agency (NDPA) in formulating our research requirements, addressing the challenges ahead, and seizing the opportunities ahead,” he said.

In this regard, the Head of State also urged Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology to make the most of the budget to enhance research and development, covering both the state budget and the regional budget, as well as education eternal funds.

“Funding for education and research must be maximized to the fullest extent, leveraging not only the state and regional budgets but also tapping into our endowment funds. Additionally, there should be efforts to collaborate with the industry through matching funds, which is equally crucial,” he said.

President Jokowi underlined that optimizing the budget was aimed at increasing the ratio of the population with Master’s (S2) and Doctoral (S3) degrees to the productive population, considering that the current ratio in Indonesia is relatively low, standing at 0.45 percent.

“Once again, I understand that all these efforts require a budget, necessitating financing amid our heavy fiscal pressure, but anything called human resources will be critical in the next 5-10 years, and that will be the key,” he added.

On that occasion, President Jokowi also encouraged all universities to collaborate to jointly realize the progress of the nation.

“I call on all universities to enhance collaboration and synergy and to join hands to produce solutions for the progress of our country Indonesia,” the President remarked.