Coordinating Minister For Airlangga Brings Good News, Registration For Pre-Employment Card Batch 23 Is Open For 500 Thousand People

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto officially opened registration for the 23rd Pre-Employment Card on Thursday, February 17. In this 23rd batch, Coordinating Minister Airlangga admitted that the government provided a quota of 500 thousand people.

"Wave 23 was opened with a quota of 500 thousand people. The next wave will be opened with the same quota amount," said Airlangga in an official statement.

The chairman of the Golkar Party DPP added that the Pre-Employment Card Committee decided to prioritize applicants from 212 districts and cities with high extreme poverty rates. The hope, he said, through the Pre-Employment Card, could encourage the economic empowerment of the community to get out of extreme poverty.

The Pre-Employment Card also provides a special allocation to 50 thousand prospective Indonesian migrant workers. This training is expected to provide more competence for Indonesian migrant workers to work in their respective destination countries.

The Coordinating Minister for the Economy said that the Pre-Employment Card was proven to increase the knowledge of the participants. Airlangga noted, to date the number of Pre-Employment Card participants has reached 11.4 million people since it was first launched in April 2020.

"The average pre-test score compared to the participants' post-test scores increased from 53 to 68. This shows that there is an increase in the knowledge that participants have after participating in the training, both cognitive and/or psychomotor aspects," said Airlangga

Airlangga who is also the Chair of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPCPEN) said that based on research, participants assessed the training in the Pre-Employment Card program according to their interests, needs, and expectations.

"A total of 87 percent of the total recipients of Pre-Employment Cards have never attended previous training. So participating in Pre-Employment Training is the first training experience for them," he said.

The evaluation conducted by The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) Southeast Asia and Rumah Presisi Indonesia shows that the Pre-Employment Card has proven to have a positive impact on increasing the competence, productivity, employment, entrepreneurship, and income of the recipients.

This achievement shows that the Pre-Employment Card Program has successfully carried out its dual mission during the pandemic. Namely improving skills while maintaining people's purchasing power. Airlangga admitted, the Pre-Employment Card Program will be brought to the G20 meeting as an example of a successful program run by the Indonesian government during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, Airlangga admitted that the government would propose a similar program to be implemented in other developing countries.

Registration can be done through the official website of the Pre-Employment Card Program www.prakerja.go.id. For applicants who qualify as recipients, Airlangga asked to be able to immediately choose the training that is really needed.

Pre-employment Card recipients can take advantage by attaching a Pre-Employment training certificate to apply for a job. The Pre-Employment Card Program will also make the supply and demand for labor more connected.

"With digital technology, the Pre-Employment Card transforms public services and forms new habits or new normals for people to always learn," he said.