Additional People's Schools to Open in April, Deputy Social Minister: President's Order

The government is accelerating the opening of additional People’s Schools, targeted to start operating in April 2026. This acceleration follows the directive from Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to expand educational access for underprivileged communities in a short time.

Deputy Minister of Social Affairs (Wamensos) Agus Jabo Priyono stated that these additional People’s Schools are outside the previously ongoing development phases.

One of the locations being prepared is the Human Resources Development Centre for Transportation Apparatus (PPSDMAP) owned by the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) in Bogor Regency, West Java (Jabar).

“What we are currently surveying is additional. So, outside of phase one, two, or even phase three,” said Agus in a written statement on Saturday (28/3/2026).

“This is an additional order (for People’s Schools) that we must carry out together because it is the order of Father President Prabowo. He requested that it must open this April,” he continued.

According to Agus, these additional People’s Schools complement the ongoing phases. In the first phase, the government has developed pilots at 166 locations by utilising available buildings.

The second phase now involves constructing permanent schools at 104 locations, followed by the third phase preparing around 100 sites.

To meet the April target, the government is optimising the use of facilities owned by ministries and agencies (K/L). One example is support from Kemenhub, which provides several educational institutions to be used as People’s School locations.

“Alhamdulillah, in this process, in one or two days, Kemenhub has provided places that have been used for training, which will later be used for People’s Schools,” said Agus.

Agus emphasised that this acceleration prioritises the functional principle. Main facilities such as classrooms, dormitories, and dining areas are the priority so that learning activities can start immediately, while other supporting facilities will be completed gradually.

“The important thing is to have classrooms first, dormitories first, then a dining area. The others can adjust while the teaching and learning process is ongoing,” said Agus.

The location feasibility assessment process is still carried out by the Ministry of Public Works (PU) to ensure the readiness of basic infrastructure.

Room adjustments are carried out quickly to meet the minimum standards for dormitory-based education.

On that occasion, Agus along with officials directly inspected Dormitory A and the Auditorium. The inspection covered bedrooms, dining rooms, classrooms, to the field used as a multipurpose area.

After inspecting PPSDMAP, Agus continued his visit to another prospective People’s School location at Tagana Centre of the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Secretary of the Directorate General of Strategic Facilities and Infrastructure of the Ministry of PU, Essy Asiah, assessed that the PPSDMAP location of Kemenhub is generally feasible for use as a People’s School.

“From an architectural perspective, it’s just a matter of improvements. So, in two weeks, it’s definitely safe, insyaallah,” said Essy.

“So, we might have some minor damages, like cracks or ceilings. So, in principle, this can be used for April,” she continued.

For information, PPSDMAP has an area of around 11 hectares, with potential utilisation including 5 classrooms, dormitories, dining rooms, sports facilities, and a prayer room in Building A and the Auditorium Building.

“So, there can be a total of 76 rooms, if 2 people per room, that means 152 (students). If 4 students per room, it can be more than that,” said the Head of PPSDMAP as well as Acting Secretary of BPSDM Transportation Kemenhub, Ali Fikri.

“Including the dining room on the first floor, the lobby can be used as a teachers’ room,” he added.

For information, during the brief inspection, Agus was accompanied by Secretary General of the Ministry of PU, Wida Nurfaida, Secretary of the Directorate General of Strategic Facilities and Infrastructure of the Ministry of PU, Essy Asiah, and Head of the General Bureau of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Salahuddin Yahya.

The inspected location is in Hambalang, Citeureup Subdistrict, Bogor Regency.

The area has a building area of 4,280.25 square metres. The inspected facilities include fields, dining rooms, dormitories, halls, to office spaces.

The People’s School at this location is targeted to accommodate 100 elementary and junior high school students, with two classes each.