Jakarta, IO – The Foreign Ministry (Kemlu) said that ferienjob or internship program participated in by thousands of Indonesian students from dozens of universities is an official program of the German government.
However, Kemlu citizen protection director Judha Nugraha said that there are differences between the official program and the problematic one experienced by the Indonesian students.
In other words, ferienjob from the start was not designed as an educational program, but a work program for students who wanted to earn extra pocket money during school holidays.
“While it is an official program from the German government, the information conveyed to the students was wrong because it has nothing to do with the independent internship program,” said Judha, per Kompas, Fri (5/4).
“In other words, it is not designed as an educational internship program.”
Judha said that ferienjob aims to fill the shortage of workers in the physical work sectors during the holidays because students in Germany are not allowed to work during their studies.
However, agencies that send students from Indonesia offered ferienjobs as internship programs which can be converted into 20 subject credits. The agency also linked it to the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka program.
In October 2023, the Indonesian Embassy in Berlin started to receive complaints from four students who joined the program because they felt cheated. Instead of internship, when they arrive in Germany they were told to do menial manual jobs such as working as porters in city centers.
Based on this report, the Indonesian Embassy in Berlin coordinated with the Indonesian Consulate General in Frankfurt to launch an in-depth investigation. It then found that it affected a total of 1,047 students from 33 campuses.
Currently, all the students have returned to Indonesia because the program ended in December 2023. The National Police’s Criminal Investigation Bureau (Bareskrim Polri) has named five suspects, all of them Indonesian citizens. Two of them are still in Germany.
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Judha advised students and campuses to be more vigilant when they are offered overseas internship program. “Make sure that everything is clear, starting from the recruitment process to who will employ the students,” he said.
“Make sure you sign the contract in Indonesia. In the ferienjob case, the students signed the contracts in Germany and they didn’t understand the contents.
“Also follow the official procedures for the apprenticeship process according to the applicable regulations in Indonesia. Finally, if you suspect any fraudulent practices, report it immediately.” (un)