TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government has officially launched the pre-employment card program and signed a deal with 11 partner companies. Throughout the next two weeks, the dissemination of the program would be carried out before the registration is opened for the public.

“Two weeks from now, people can already choose which training they will take,” said Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto during a press conference at his ministry building in Central Jakarta on Friday, March 20.

Eight of the eleven companies are digital platforms, namely Bukalapak, MauBelajarApa, Pintaria, Ruangguru, Sekolahmu, Tokopedia, Pijar Mahir, and Sisnaker, while the three others are BNI, OVO, and LinkAja.

The pre-employment card program was one of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo's campaign promises in the 2019 Election.

At present, Airlangga added, the government recorded a total of 7 million unemployed people with 3.7 million of them are aged 18 to 24 years old. Besides, 64 percent of the total figure lived in cities, and 78 percent of them were high school graduates and above. Moreover, most of them up to 90 percent never attended vocational training.

Therefore, the government prioritized the program for young job seekers. Later, the applicants will be granted training fees worth around Rp3 to Rp7 million per person that they can use to attend various training available on the 8 digital platforms.

In total, the government earmarked a budget of Rp10 trillion for this program throughout 2020. The program is expected to facilitate 2 million job seekers to access the program.

FAJAR PEBRIANTO