Jakarta, Aug. 6 -- Indonesia's manpower minister called for stronger science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education to reduce workforce skills mismatches and better align graduates with labor market needs.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Association of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Faculties of Indonesian Teacher Education Institutions (AMLI) in Jakarta on Thursday, Minister Yassierli said Indonesia faces a skills mismatch of 30-40 percent.

He said a vertical skills mismatch occurs when jobs intended for high school graduates are filled by university graduates, while a horizontal mismatch occurs when graduates work outside their fields of study.

Yassierli called for closer collaboration among stakeholders, i...