60,000 Prospective Students Withdraw, Lestari Moerdijat Calls for Evaluation of Education Financing Scheme to Ensure It Is on Target
Deputy Speaker of the MPR RI, Lestari Moerdijat, has called on the government and policymakers to re-evaluate the accuracy of education financing schemes to prevent young generations from losing hope due to economic limitations.
During the Denpasar 12 Discussion Forum in Jakarta on Wednesday (1/7), Lestari referred to presentations indicating that approximately 60,000 prospective students who had passed university entrance selections chose not to re-register due to a lack of access to financing. “This generally occurs because they do not have access to funding. This certainly raises a strategic question: why are so many Indonesian children still losing learning opportunities, even though the right to education is guaranteed by the constitution?” she said.
Lestari believes this phenomenon could serve as a starting point for the state to review the extent to which the education budget allocation has been accurately absorbed and has addressed the root causes within society. She also encouraged an in-depth study regarding the effectiveness of education funding to ensure that the budget is truly allocated for inclusive and progressive educational interests.
Lestari remains optimistic that by improving the accuracy of targeted budgeting, the state can ensure that no more of the nation’s children have to halt their education due to financial barriers.
Responding to these claims, the Director of Learning and Students at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Beny Bandanadjaja, clarified the circulating misinformation regarding the 60,000 prospective students said to have withdrawn or failed to re-register in this year’s selection. Beny emphasised that the narrative of 60,000 students withdrawing in 2026 is incorrect, given that the independent track admission process for this year is still ongoing until the deadline on 31 July 2026.
According to him, the widely discussed figure of 60,000 actually refers to the presentation of 2025 evaluation data delivered by the National Selection Committee for New Student Admissions during a Hearing with the House of Representatives (DPR RI). He detailed that from a total national capacity of 627,000 seats in 2025, 585,000 people were successfully accepted through the selection process. The difference of approximately 40,000 empty seats was purely due to unfilled capacity because candidates did not meet the minimum quality standards, rather than withdrawals. “From those 585,000, it is true that some did not re-register. Based on 2025 data, that number is around 17,000, or approximately 2.8 per cent of those accepted,” said Beny.
Lestari continued her critical notes, ranging from education budget issues and targeted subsidies to educational affordability and other concerns. The challenge of ensuring the availability of quality and equitable teachers demands concrete, comprehensive, and immediate steps from stakeholders across the country.
Furthermore, the Deputy Speaker of the MPR RI, Lestari Moerdijat, emphasised the importance of increasing female participation in STEM fields to win global competition and drive innovation. She stated that education issues must be a serious priority in national development and encouraged the National Education System Bill (RUU Sisdiknas) to return to Ki Hajar Dewantara’s vision regarding the roles of family, school, and society.