President Jokowi Targets 150 Thousand Independent Campus Internship Participants

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) targets as many as 150 thousand students to participate in internships through the independent campus program or a threefold increase compared to 50 thousand participants in 2021.

"Last year, 50 thousand participants and this year we are targeting 150 thousand participants, of which 40 percent of the apprentices are digital talents that we want to prepare," President Jokowi said in his remarks at the 49th Anniversary of the PDI-P, quoted by Antara, Monday, January 10. .

The President said the program participants in the Merdeka Learning Campus Merdeka were prepared to become superior Human Resources (HR) and to be involved in internships at well-known companies.

According to the President, the independent campus program is one of the efforts to improve people's living standards, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

In the field of education, the President said, other efforts to improve people's living standards include the Smart Indonesia Card (KIP) program which has a budget of Rp. 11 trillion for 21 million students, and the KIP Lecture with a budget of Rp. 9.4 trillion to 1.1 million students. throughout the country.

"We also continue to guarantee people's access to education, especially for the underprivileged, we will continue to provide assistance for basic to higher education," said President Jokowi.

Previously, the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Mendikbudristek) Nadiem Anwar Makarim hoped that more university leaders could become ambassadors for the Merdeka Learning Campus Merdeka (MBKM) program. Several MKBM programs in 2022, including the Teaching Campus, the Independent Student Exchange, Certified Independent Study and Internship (MSIB), and Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA). With the independent campus program, it is hoped that it can improve the experience of students in the world of work.