During the 50th anniversary of Padjajaran University (Unpad)s commemoration event in Bandung, West Java, on Monday the president stated that he always repeated the same message at any university he visited in a bid to encourage decent information and technology subjects to be taught to the students.
"This is something that I want Unpad to anticipate as we are now facing a rapid change in globalism," he noted.
He remarked that the faculty of economy in Indonesia, which only has three majors, namely management, development, and accountancy, has not changed for years.
"In fact, about 30 percent of malls have been closed as consumers have turned to online purchasing. This also highlights the issue of unemployment as people do not need to go out for shopping anymore, as they think online shopping is cheaper and faster," he explained.
Hence, Jokowi encouraged Unpad and other universities to change and improve their faculties with current studies, such as logistic management, retail management, and online shopping marketing.
"We need to change, so that we will not lose the competition with other countries," he asserted.
Similar to the economic faculty, Jokowi asked the universities to add social media studies to their faculty of social and political science.
"Social media will influence individual interaction with each other as in the next 5 to 10 years, a generation dubbed as Gen Y will determine our market, as well as influence our politic and economic situation," he said.
During his visit to Unpad, Jokowi received the "Padjajaran Utama" Award and officially launched a book titled "Welcoming SDGs: The Indonesian Regions Readiness" that written by the Unpads academia.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
