"The program was started with the formation of 50 BLK in 2017, 75 BLK in 2018, and 988 community-based BLK in 2019," the ministry's Director General of Training and Productivity, Bambang Satrio Lelono, stated here on Monday.
According to Lelono, the community-based BLK program is a breakthrough initiated by President Joko Widodo as a precautionary measure against the country's demographic bonus in 2030-2040 and to curb unemployment.
Indonesia is set to avail the benefits of a demographic bonus, a large productive population, for which apposite measures are required with the improvement in skills and competitiveness.
The demographic bonus will become a driver to boost public welfare and lower unemployment that currently reaches 5.28 percent, or some 7.05 million.
"If we fail to manage the demographic bonus, it will turn into a disaster for the nation," he remarked.
He remarked that on several occasions, the president had reiterated the priority of national development in the next five years, specifically in the form of development of human resources, infrastructure, transportation, and economy as well as regulatory and bureaucratic simplification.
Community-based BLK is a vocational training center formed at religious educational institutions, including Islamic boarding school (pesantren), seminary, dhammasekha (Buddhist educational institution), and pasraman (Hindu educational institution).
The training centers target to hone the skills of students and local residents.
"Of course, the training will be aligned with the requirements on the field, and is expected to encourage entrepreneurship," he stated.
Translator: Muhammad Zulfikar, Sri Haryati
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
