TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said that there will be 100 People's Schools established in the near future. Prabowo did not mention when the People's Schools will be inaugurated. He only mentioned that this program targets children from low-income groups in Indonesia.
"I received a report from the Minister of Social Affairs. In the near future, we will open at least 100 boarding schools," said Prabowo during a cabinet meeting at the Presidential Office, State Palace, Central Jakarta, on Monday, May 5, 2025.
The Head of State affirmed that the People's School program is part of the government's commitment to providing equal access to education for children in Indonesia. He requested the Minister of Social Affairs and the Minister of Elementary and Secondary Education not to rush the implementation of this program. However, both of them are convinced that the People's Schools can be inaugurated soon.
"I've said time and time again not to force it, but to act, and we don't need to chase the date, what's important is to act. But they are confident they want to achieve the best results quickly, please. But in the end, I believe this will be strongly felt by the people at the bottom," said Prabowo.
In addition, Prabowo revealed that more than 200 regents and mayors have prepared land to support the construction of schools.
"I said if the regional governments prepare the land, we will build. And we have prepared the state budget. It turns out the response was from more than 200, yes, Minister of Social Affairs, we have prepared the land. It's around 5 to 8 hectares, not bad. Schools, elementary, junior high, high school, I think 5 hectares are rare in Indonesia," he added.
The former defense minister also emphasized that the detailed planning of construction points targets areas with high poverty levels. In the next two to three weeks, the President hopes that the finalization of the design and budget for the construction of these schools can be completed soon.
"The preparations are already quite mature. I think this will be matured in another 2-3 weeks. And it will be carried out well. We have designed the construction costs for the campus. In my opinion, it is quite economical but good," said the President.
People's Schools, managed by the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA), will soon start operating in the new academic year 2025/2026. People's schools are one of the work programs of the Ministry of Social Affairs specifically aimed at children from less privileged families. MoSA Saifullah targets 100 to 200 people's schools for this year.
The Chairperson of the Advocacy Division of P2G, Iman Zanatul Haeri, mentioned that the people's schools have 4 problems. One of them is about governance. Iman considered the presence of people's schools to pose a risk of conflicting with the national education system, which is supposed to be a single gateway. "If three ministries run their own systems, then this is no longer a national system," he said when contacted on Friday, April 11, 2025.
Dinda Shabrina contributed to this article.
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