One of the longest standing “classic” problems encountered in the world of education is the gap between education and the need for quality professional human resources in the industrial sector. “The problems of the work world in Indonesia are often said to result from the high level of unemployment due to a lack of jobs. When, in reality, there are a lot of jobs out there, but the industrial sector can’t find the people with the skills to meet its needs,” said Lin Che Wei, Chief Executive Officer of Sampoerna Foundation (SF). “This is due to the individual jobseekers lack of ability in problem solving and analysis, both of which are necessary in the industrial sector,” continued Che Wei.

Utomo Dananjaya, Director of the Institute for Education Reform said that the problem was that currently the focus of education in Indonesia was on subject materials, when what was actually needed by industry was people who could think critically, communicate, interact socially and work well in teams. "Actually efforts have been made to change the situation, among them being establishing a competence based curriculum, but, unfortunately, not all parties understand this curriculum adequately and the its implementation has fallen short of expectations," Utomo said.

According to the Chairman of the Education Innovation Research Center of the Department of National Education, Agung Purwadi, Senior High Trade Schools (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan: SMK) were established to give students the skills and expertise needed for existing jobs in the industrial sector. Unfortunately, the industrial sector takes little notice of trade school graduates so that many never get a chance to apply the skills they have learned. "Trade school graduates are not well accepted in Indonesia’s industrial sector at this time. For that reason, the trade school must be upgraded to diploma level," Agung said.

The discussants came to the conclusion that character development of Indonesia’s human resources must begin as early as elementary school. As well, a shift from subject material to competence based education would be required in the senior high school pedagogic paradigm. In order to accomplice this it would be necessary to familiarize educators and the public alike with a detailed definition of competence based curriculum and how to implement it in all regions of Indonesia.  The discussants also advised that the government expand access to secondary and higher education for all Indonesians.