1,653 Educational Institutions Removed from Free Nutritious Meal Programme List, Mostly International Private Schools

The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) has conducted an update of the beneficiary data for the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme, removing 1,653 educational units from the recipient list across Indonesia.

BGN Head, Sudaryono, stated that the majority of the excluded educational units are international-standard private schools, schools that have partnered with international or national institutions, and schools that possess independent financial capabilities without depending on School Operational Assistance (BOS).

“The majority of the ,1653 that we have excluded from the beneficiary list are international-standard private schools, schools or educational units collaborating with international or national institutions, and schools that are already financially independent, without relying on school operational assistance or BOS funds,” Sudaryono said, as quoted from a written statement on Thursday.

This targeting update was carried out by the BGN in collaboration with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and the Ministry of Religious Affairs to obtain more comprehensive data on educational units.

The data collection covers more than 580,000 educational units in Indonesia, comprising public schools, madrasahs, Islamic boarding schools (pesantren), and other religious educational units.

From that total, more than 340,000 educational units have already received MBG services.

Meanwhile, approximately 240,000 other educational units have yet to receive the MBG programme and will be included in the service expansion phase.

“More than 340,000 schools have received or are being served by the MBG programme in their schools, which means there are still about 240,000 schools that have not yet received the MBG programme,” Sudaryono explained.

He added that the BGN has received many applications from educational units that have not yet received MBG services. Every application will be followed up through an investigation and mapping process before services are provided according to the established stages.

According to him, updating the beneficiary data is a vital part of ensuring that the expansion of the MBG programme is carried out in a measurable manner. Consequently, MBG services will not only focus on the number of educational units to be served but will also consider the priorities and conditions of each respective region.