The youngest minister in the cabinet, many things await the Education and Culture Minister, Nadiem Makarim. (Image via IDN Times)

The youngest minister, what lies ahead for Nadiem?

It is official that the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, generally known as Jokowi, appointed the former CEO of GoJek, Nadiem Makarim, as the new Minister of Education and Culture for his Indonesia Onward cabinet (2019 – 2024).

Nadiem is known as the youngest minister in the cabinet. When being introduced on Wednesday, Jokowi addressed Nadiem as “mas” because of his youth.

Born in Singapore on 4 July 1984, Nadiem just turned 35 this year. Compared to the ages of other ministers in the cabinet, the founder of GoJek is considered young enough. According to the statistics, the average age of ministers in the Indonesia Onward cabinet is 57 – 58 years old.

As one has said, let no man despise your youth, a psychologist, Rena Masri, stated that being youth does not have anything to do with being a minister. In fact, Nadiem, as a millennial, could bring positive, fresh changes to the nation. With relentless effort, Nadiem, as a youngster, can hail positive changes with his flexibility and quick-wittedness.

Being a minister at a young age, Nadiem still needs to respect and appreciate his subordinates whose ages stand taller than his. However, respect does not mean that Nadiem has to nod to their every idea. As a leader, Nadiem also has to lead his Ministry, motivate his subordinates, and establish solid teamwork within divisions.

Masri stated that to balance it, Nadiem has to be firm and a man of integrity without being bossy. How? Nadiem can establish rules and objectives for him and his subordinates to achieve; therefore, they can strive to achieve it together.

NADIEM’S PLAN

As the Minister of Education and Culture, Nadiem is responsible to monitor and improve Indonesia’s education, from the primary level to the university level. With the world facing Industrial Revolution 4.0, Nadiem quoted Jokowi’s visions and missions for him, and one of which is the development of human resources.

To improve Indonesia’s education, Nadiem proposed a plan to link and match education with employment. Nadiem wants to ensure that Indonesian students will possess what it takes to be competitive in the global market.

Nadiem, being proficient in tech, also addressed the importance of technology and how it may be implemented in education administration for efficiency and quality. Therefore, Nadiem planned to implement these techs into 300 schools nationally to cater to the needs of 50 million Indonesian students.

The new Education and Culture Minister aims to realize an education system founded on competency and character. Referring to his predecessor, Nadiem said that breakthroughs have been done, and he has to continue making breakthroughs.

On Thursday, President Jokowi held a plenary cabinet meeting at 10.00 a.m at the State Palace. Jokowi was the one chairing the meeting. This meeting was the first day at work for Nadiem as the Education and Culture Minister.

Source: https://bit.ly/31Gzsrv