THE IMPLEMENTATION OF “MAGANG MERDEKA” PROGRAM IN IMPROVING STUDENTS' SOFT SKILLS AND HARD SKILLS

Abstract

This study aims to determine the improvement of students' soft skills and hard skills after participating in the Merdeka Internship programme, as well as to describe the various new soft skills and hard skills obtained by students from the implementation of the Merdeka Internship programme. This research is a type of quantitative descriptive research. The data collection technique was carried out using a questionnaire. The sample in this study were students of Educational Technology, Faculty of Education, Makassar State University, who had participated in the Merdeka Internship programme. The data analysis technique used in this research is quantitative descriptive analysis. The research results obtained show that for soft skill improvement, most are at a moderate level. As for improving hard skills, it is also at a moderate level. The data obtained also shows that soft skills in the form of skills to involve themselves in a project are a new type of soft skill encountered by some students during the implementation of the Merdeka Internship programme. Meanwhile, the type of hard skills in the form of skills in utilising information and communication technology for the purposes of implementing an activity is also the new hard skill that most students encounter through their participation in Merdeka Internship activities. The implementation and implementation of the Merdeka Internship programme has proven to be able to improve students' abilities and enrich students with a variety of new skills.