By: Made Raditya )*
President Joko Widodo said that the Pre-Employment Card Program would continue even though he was no longer President. The sustainability of the program deserves appreciation because so far it has made many positive contributions to the community.
The program regarding community empowerment through Pre-Employment is indeed one of President Jokowi’s mainstay programs and was even echoed when he was running for President. This is certainly very beneficial for the community itself, especially those of the millennial generation who may have just graduated from the world of lectures or from school and still do not have any experience in the professional world. They can learn many things from the Pre-Employment held by the Government so far.
Then towards the end of President Joko Widodo’s term in 2024, he emphasized one thing about the Pre-Employment program for the community. When met at the Sentul International Convention Center on Friday (16/6), the 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia firmly stated that the Government would continue the program even though his term of office would end.
The sustainability of the Pre-Employment program is certainly based on the benefits that have been given to the community so far. Even on the same occasion, Jokowi also admitted that the budget regarding the Pre-Employment Card for the next two years had been provided as a form of the Government’s seriousness in the sustainability of this program.
For information, the Pre-Employment Card program itself has so far entered the 32nd wave since it was first released in April 2020. From the sustainability of the program, the data recorded that there have been around 12.8 million people accepted.
Furthermore, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto himself also admitted that from this figure, as many as 95 percent of them had received incentives from activities. The General Chairperson of the Golkar Party added that Pre-Employment itself is an effort of the community empowerment sustainability program because it has been enjoyed by as many as 514 regencies/cities, of which 56 percent are people who live in villages, 49 percent of whom are women and 3 percent of them are women. persons with disabilities.
From the data submitted by Coordinating Minister Airlangga, it can be seen that the Pre-Employment program is indeed very beneficial for all levels of society and is able to empower them even regardless of background. Starting from those from villages and also women and even people with disabilities receive the same opportunities in training and will continue to be empowered by the Government so that they can be independent.
It is undeniable that the Pre-Employment Card program is indeed very beneficial for all levels of society. For this reason, President Joko Widodo suggested that the program should be continued. He also briefly showed how the data that had been collected in the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) showed that there were already 88.9 percent of Pre-Employment Card participants who had acquired new skills and became a form of high appreciation for the sustainability of this program.
There was also a moment when one of the representatives of the Pre-Employment Card users was asked to share their experiences while participating in President Jokowi’s flagship program. There are two alumni of the 13th and 9th Pre-Employment Card program who admitted that they really benefited from the program and asked the Government to continue because it would greatly help many other communities.
This testimony shows how the people themselves have given great appreciation to the Government and that the Pre-Employment Card program has indeed been very useful, so that it is considered to be very much needed by all Indonesian people as a program that is sustainable at all times. The program is also expected to be able to equip the younger generation with special skills to be able to compete in the midst of global competition.
)* The author is a contributor to the Nusa Bangsa Institute
