By: Faishal Dzaky Affianto (1900710) | Melinda Amelia (1901829) | Ajie Iskandar Zulkarnain (2008729)
(Delivered in IMAKSI ESSAY AND DEBATE COMPETITION)
The global community has been shocked by the many impacts resulting from Corona Virus Disease 19 or known as COVID-19. It is undeniable that all levels of society must swallow the bitter pill as a result of this pandemic, especially people in Indonesia. It’s been 15 months since the virus from Wuhan, China came to Indonesia, namely in March 2020. It ravaged the situation so that it became a National Non-Natural Disaster according to Presidential Decree No. 12 of 2020. This virus that attacks the respiratory system is like a sadistic bug that spreads rapidly. hit all conditions of Indonesian society, ranging from health, education, tourism, including the economy.
In the three-quarters of a century of Indonesian independence, we are now faced with an invisible enemy. At the beginning of its emergence, many experts suggested that Indonesia would be haunted by the shadow of an economic recession. Four months later after Indonesia announced its first positive case of COVID-19, the Indonesian economy was immediately hit by a painful slump. For the first time since 2015 Indonesia’s economic growth was recorded at minus and became an anomaly of the economic conjuncture wave in Indonesia. There are many things that arise from the occurrence of anomalies
This wave of economic conjunctures, including unemployment, has the potential to stimulate an increase in the poverty rate in Indonesia. Does Indonesia still have a great opportunity to release the shackles from the dangers of economic downturn?
The declining state of the Indonesian economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic has made the people’s ability to buy products decrease drastically, so that many companies experienced heavy losses and then closed their businesses (Fahri et al., 2020). It is alleged that the pandemic has also increased the unemployment rate in Indonesia due to several things, such as the PSBB policy which makes sellers of goods and services feel empty of visitors due to policies that limit the activities of each individual so that businesses in the economic sector close and cause them to lose their jobs. In addition, during this pandemic, people have a high level of fear of staying at home accompanied by government regulations that restrict people from working or doing business, so they are more willing to become unemployed or even forced to be unemployed because of these regulations. Mainly, the problem of unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic was due to the number of companies that went out of business and pushed these companies to lay off employees. Employees affected by PH K will become unemployed which causes the minimum income obtained by the unemployed and reduces consumption expenditure, which leads to a decrease in prosperity and welfare and triggers poverty. (Isaf, 2014).
Unemployment rates that are too high can also cause political, security, social chaos, and disrupt economic growth and development. Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency, it was recorded that there were 2.56 million people out of 29.12 million people of working age who became unemployed due to the impact of COVID-19 (BPS, 2019). This is due to various factors, one of which is the low level of income and even triggers the emergence of poverty. As a step towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, especially in the economic field. So the thing that must be solved is the problem of poverty and can be solved through concrete steps taken by students to the maximum as part of the community and carrying out their role as students. The role of students has a major impact on improving the economic anomaly that is happening. Tried as the owner of a high intellectual level, students are required to make an impact on their surroundings. This is in line with the role of students as agents of change. Not only that, students are expected to be able to realize changes in the nation for the better through their critical thinking and speed in acting.
Provision of Training Information provided by the Job Training Center
Many problems have been found regarding people who have been laid off at their place of work since the COVID-19 pandemic took place. And it is difficult to find another job because of the lack of skills. Thus, there is a need for training to improve the skills of the community, especially job seekers so that they can compete in the world of work. Currently the government has provided a Job Training Center program for job seekers to train their skills. Unfortunately, not many people know about this program. In supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially the first point, namely without poverty, this is where the role of students is needed. They can provide ongoing information about this program to the community. With the hope that people can improve their skills and be able to compete in finding jobs. So that indirectly it has helped the community to get out of the tyrannical circle of the poverty line due to unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Waseso & Handoyo, 2020)
Become a Volunteer for the Digitalization of Merchant Sales Program in Supporting the Independence of MSMEs.
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are currently the prima donna during the COVID-19 pandemic, because they are holding up well even though there is a pandemic. But unfortunately, there are still those who are out of business. Those who went out of business reasoned that they could not compete because they were not technologically savvy. As agents of change, students can play an active role in guiding small traders in the process of digitizing their sales so that they can be more competitive with other traders.
Participate in Overseeing the Distribution of Community Assistance Programs for Economic Recovery after the COVID-19 Pandemic
The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Ir. H. Joko Widodo, has provided social assistance for the community through the Ministry of Social Affairs. Unfortunately, however, there are individuals who commit corruption in this social assistance program. (BBC, 2020) As a result, the public cannot benefit from the program. So, what was previously expected to help the community’s economy, has become stagnant. There needs to be controlling from the community, especially students to oversee the process of distributing social assistance to the community.
We as students have a different perspective in seeing suffering as a reality of life that cannot be denied and taking advantage of the roles that we have always had. It is undeniable that the contribution, hard work, and work together that we do can alleviate poverty caused by unemployment and can afford stabilize the economic conjuncture during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
References:
BBC. (2020). Mensos Juliari Batubara jadi tersangka korupsi bansos Covid-19, ancaman hukuman mati bakal menanti? https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/indonesia-55204360 BPS. (2019). Keadaan Ketenagakerjaan Indonesia Agustus 2019. Badan Pusat Statistik, XXiI, 05 N(91), 1–20.
https://www.bps.go.id/publication/download.html?nrbvfeve=YjdlNmNkNDBhYWVhMDJiYjZkODlhODI4&xzmn=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYnBzLmdvLmlkL3B1YmxpY2F0aW9uLzIwMTgvMDYvMDQvYjdlNmNkNDBhYWVhMDJiYjZkODlhODI4L2tlYWRhYW4tYW5na2F0YW4ta2VyamEtZGktaW5kb25lc2lhLWZlYnJ1YXJpLTIwMTgu
Fahri, Jalil, A., & Kasnelly, S. (2020). Meningkatnya Angka Pengangguran Di Tengah Pandemi (Covid-19). 2(pengangguran akibat covid 19), 45–60.
Isaf, D. (2014). Analisis Dampak Pengangguran Terhadap Kemiskinan Di Dki Jakarta. Jurnal Pendidikan Ekonomi Dan Bisnis (JPEB), 2(2), 63.https://doi.org/10.21009/jpeb.002.2.5
Waseso, R., & Handoyo. (2020). Akibat pandemi Covid-19, pengangguran dan kemiskinan diprediksi mengalami lonjakan.
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