Thursday, October 9, 2025

DELETE MBG: Universities Must Deliver Jobs or Indonesia’s Kids Will Suffer

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We’ve all heard the same old story: go to college, get a degree, and a good job will come easily. It’s like universities are supposed to be a clear path to a happy future. But in 2025’s tough job market, we need to wake up: it is time we stop trusting this broken promise! Our kids study hard and give their all, but end up with no jobs. Why are we letting their hopes get crushed?

The numbers hurt to hear. In February 2025, 4.76 percent of people have no jobs; that’s 7.28 million out of 153.05 million workers. Young people aged 15 to 24 are struggling badly, and college graduates are hit worst, with 6.23 percent jobless, more than diploma holders at 4.84 percent or junior high grads at 5.57 percent. That’s 1.01 million graduates with degrees that do nothing. In 2023, 1.17 million students graduated, and 8.9 million are still in school, but the Job Availability Index dropped from 107.7 in January to 100.3 in March 2025. Jobs are gone, and universities aren’t teaching what kids need.

This mess isn’t just bad luck. Most jobs, 88.3 percent, need digital skills, but universities teach old stuff that nobody wants. Our kids aren’t failing; colleges are letting them down by not training them for today’s jobs. We can’t keep watching graduates walk into a wall of no jobs.

 The job world is different now. Just giving degrees isn’t enough. Universities have to stop sitting back and start working to get their graduates jobs. They need to team up with companies to make sure every kid is ready to work, not just ready to graduate. Anything less is letting our kids down.

Right now, it’s about making things happen. Success isn’t about collecting degrees but about getting jobs that give our kids a future. With industries moving fast, universities can’t teach old lessons. They have to make graduates who can start work and do great things right away.

But here’s the real problem: the Makan Bergizi Gratis (MBG) program is stealing our kids’ future. It is time we abolish MBG. This awful waste must stop! It’s taking Rp335 trillion, 44 percent of the 2026 education budget, just for school lunches, while teachers, scholarships, and schools get nothing. It’s against court orders that say education needs real funding. MBG is a mess: thousands of kids got sick, like 393 in Bandung Barat in September 2025, from dirty kitchens. Parents are mad, food’s thrown out, rich kids get fed, and hungry kids get nothing. Even President Prabowo gave up, moving Rp70 trillion to villages and fishermen. Why are we letting this failure hurt our kids?

Some people say universities shouldn’t have to find jobs, that it’s for the government or companies. That’s a lame excuse. With 1.01 million graduates jobless and MBG wasting Rp335 trillion, colleges have to step up. Too many grads are stuck, scared to try new dreams because their degrees feel useless. But a teacher starting a shop or an engineer growing crops isn’t failing; they’re making their own way. Universities must give them real job chances, not empty degrees.

It is time we end MBG and make universities promise jobs for every graduate in six months. Just Rp24 trillion, one month of MBG, could pay for 288,000 students at top schools, fixing the jobless problem. Universities must change their classes, work with businesses, and track every grad’s job, no excuses. The government’s link and match plan is a start, but it’s nothing without MBG’s money. The world doesn’t need more useless degrees; it needs kids who are ready to work and win. In the end, giving degrees isn’t enough. It’s about giving our kids jobs, hope, and a future they can hold onto. It is time we stop letting MBG steal from our kids and start making universities deliver jobs. The fight for jobs is where Indonesia’s future shines bright!.




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