Jajah described her father as a strict and disciplined person, while her mother taught her basic home skills and opened an embroidery training school to provide additional income for the family.

[1] After completing high school, Jajah was accepted to study medicine in the University of Indonesia (UI) as well as the Bandung Teacher's Institute.

Jajah and several other IPB lecturers (including future agriculture minister Soleh Solahudin) was sent to study in university.

Her contribution for agriculture in Pandeglang led her to receive a prize of 3 million rupiahs ($200) from the Golkar party in West Java.

[9] On 14 March 1989, Jajah was installed as the Director of Research and Community Service Development, replacing her husband Oetit Koswara, who retired that year.

[12] One of Jajah's main work as director was the development of the competitive research grant scheme, which was introduced in 1988 by her husband.

[13] Prior to the introduction of the scheme, research in bigger state universities were funded by student tuition and was spread evenly among the academic staff.

The Directorate General of Higher Education, which was responsible for the management of state universities, only provided meager and infrequent research funds.

[12] The voucher system was initiated in 1994 by Jajah upon the request of Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro.

[14][12] Jajah described the system as a "rather fundamental change in the history of direct appropriate technology application to small-and medium-enterprises".

[12] Despite the budget ceiling of each voucher was set to 10-15 million rupiahs, the actual reimbursement was much lower, which resulted in complaints from universities.

[14] Jajah was the project leader of the University of Research for Graduate Education (URGE) program,[15] which was also funded by IBRD and the Indonesian government.

The program was the first in the Indonesian higher education system to provide funds in the form of block grants.