Surabaya, East Java (ANTARA) – Deputy Minister of Migrant Workers Protection Dzulfikar Ahmad Tawalla encouraged universities in Indonesia to build Migrant Centers to prepare competent migrant workers and meet the demand for formal labor abroad.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Migrant Center at Muhammadiyah University of Surabaya (Umsura) on Saturday, he said the government encourages the development of Migrant Centers at more universities, to strengthen the formal placement ecosystem for Indonesian migrant workers.
“We just held a meeting with around 23 universities regarding this facility development,” he said.
According to him, a number of state and private universities already have similar facilities, including the University of Indonesia, Veteran National Development University Yogyakarta, Hasanuddin University, and Lambung Mangkurat University, among others.
“Of those with facilities more or less similar to what Umsura has, there are around eight campuses,” he said.
He expressed hope that more universities would have Migrant Centers so that the demand for formal employment abroad can be met by human resources who have received proper training.
“We hope that in the future there will be more, so that the government’s efforts, currently led by President Prabowo Subianto, to improve the formal placement ecosystem, can soon be realized,” Tawalla said.
Meanwhile, Umsura Rector Prof. Mundakir said the Migrant Center program is not only intended for Umsura students. Going forward, the university will collaborate with secondary schools, especially senior high schools (SMA) and vocational high schools (SMK), to recruit prospective participants.
“This is part of the Go Global vocational program, we will collaborate with vocational and senior high schools, especially their graduates, to encourage them to register for this program soon,” Mundakir said.
The program is also open to graduates of Diploma-3 (D3) and Bachelor’s degree (S1) programs, especially those who want to receive training before working abroad.
The skills being trained include caregiving, professional nursing, construction, and other technical fields tailored to overseas employer demand.
The Umsura Migrant Center also offers English, Mandarin, Japanese, and German lessons to build participants’ language skills.
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Translator: Willi, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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