Indonesia's school system ranked among lowest globally

Jakarta

HEADING into the final year of his undergraduate degree in computer science Diky Arga, 21, could sense that his studies weren't preparing him for the sorts of jobs he wanted after graduation.

His programme at a university in Semarang followed an outdated curriculum that ignored programming for mobile devices, included scant practical work and was overseen by aloof professors. Mr Arga was anxious that his degree would shut him out of the trendy startups in Jakarta. So Mr Arga enrolled in a commercial programming school in Jakarta, called Hactiv8, shelling out the equivalent of a year's university tuition for the 12-week course. Now he's got three offers for jobs after he graduates later this year that will pay double what his friends are likely to earn.