INDONESIA
A review into a Government plan to increase the number of Indonesian Public Servants with doctoral degrees says it appears to be misfiring.
In 2016, former Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform, Yuddy Chrisnandi said the number of PhD holders in the bureaucracy should be increased from two per cent to five per cent.
However, the report on the scheme questioned whether there were that many Public Service jobs requiring this amount of expertise.
It said some doctoral degree recruits had been placed in jobs unrelated to their area of expertise or in low-level positions.
“In 2018 only 60 per cent of individuals obtained higher managerial positions upon returning from studies overseas, and only 51 per cent of them obtained a higher salary,” the review said.
“However, many Government employees still believe in the equation of higher degree education being equal to a good career.”
It said, unfortunately, the calculation was unravelling, especially for those not working as lecturers, researchers or public policy analysts.
The Government now appears to be withdrawing from the idea, with Minister of Finance, Mulyani Indrawati saying Indonesia needs to focus more on vocational education and that for most jobs a doctorate was unnecessary.
More recent research indicates a growing shortage of skilled tradespeople and calls for a focus on vocational schools rather than universities.
Jakarta, 15 October 2019
