University graduates in Indonesia frequently encounter the challenge of meeting the criteria for “employment readiness” as stipulated by potential employers. The conventional internship system, designed to serve as a conduit between academia and the professional sphere, has not consistently achieved this objective. The absence of a centralised repository for internship opportunities has rendered it arduous for students to amass invaluable industry exposure, consequently impeding their capacity to explore potential career paths.
In light of this issue, the Ministry of Manpower has introduced Regulation No. 6/2020 on internships, highlighting the significance of professional networking and skills enhancement. Nevertheless, the manual and decentralised nature of the process has presented logistical obstacles in its execution. Consequently, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology has initiated Kampus Merdeka, a program aimed at facilitating the involvement of university students in off-campus experiences.
In order to guarantee the effectiveness of the program, a technological platform has been devised to furnish a streamlined and accessible avenue for all students to discover employment prospects through the Certified Internship and Independent Study (MSIB) program. This approach has received support from the Ministry of Education’s thought and development parent, GovTech Edu, with the objective of establishing a comprehensive platform that equips students with valuable internships and prepares them for successful careers.
In addition to just matching students with internships, the platform also consolidates opportunities from an extensive array of industry partners, simplifying the internship program for universities and furnishing students with feedback on their experiences. In a case study, two students, Sri Ramadani and Laila Zahira Fatin, who partook in the program, shared how the platform streamlined the registration process and internship period, ultimately enabling them to secure employment earlier than non-participants.
The implementation of Kampus Merdeka has yielded noteworthy success, evinced by a verification speed 1.5 times faster, with over 1.5 million students registered on the platform, and 27,000 internship positions and courses generated for university students. Furthermore, participants were able to secure jobs three to six months earlier than non-participants, as corroborated by internal surveys.
As Indonesia continues to invest in the future of its talents, Kampus Merdeka emerges as an influential model for bridging the gap between academia and the professional realm, endowing students with the essential skills and experiences requisite for flourishing in the job market.