Cabinet Secretary Teddy Inspects People's School in Pejompongan, Meets Prospective Students
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Cabinet Secretary (Seskab) Teddy Indra Wijaya joined in checking the readiness of the People’s School (SR) in the Pejompongan area, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday, together with Social Minister Saifullah Yusuf and Head of the National Institute of Public Administration (LAN) Muhammad Taufik.
During the event, Seskab also met with prospective People’s School students, who are mostly from decile 1 families or the extreme poverty category.
“So, welcome here, little ones. (People’s School, ed.) This is not yet operational, so Mr Minister of Social Affairs invited me to check the school,” said Seskab Teddy in front of the prospective People’s School students in Pejompongan, Jakarta, on Wednesday afternoon.
More than 70 prospective People’s School students from primary school to high school levels, originating from various areas in Jakarta, gathered in the People’s School building which occupies the Graduate School of Public Administration (STIA) building of the National Institute of Public Administration (LAN) RI in Pejompongan.
The People’s School in Pejompongan is currently being prepared to later accommodate students who are mostly school dropouts or have not been to school since primary level.
In his meeting with the prospective students, Seskab Teddy also dialogued with several of them, including Rizki Saputra Gonjalez, Putri Nana Kurnia, and Aljabar Nur. All three currently reside in Jakarta.
“Assalamualaikum Warahmahtullahi Wabarakatuh, introduce myself, my name is Gonjalez, transfer from Budi Jaya Youth School, I live in North Jakarta. (I) went to school up to class 5 (primary, then) dropped out,” said Gonjalez during the dialogue session with the Minister of Social Affairs and Seskab Teddy.
Gonjalez then also expressed his desire to become a TNI soldier when he grows up.
In the same session, another prospective People’s School student, Putri Nana Kurnia, also had the opportunity to dialogue with Social Minister Saifullah and Seskab Teddy. Nana is currently a ninth-grade junior high school student preparing to enter tenth grade in senior high school.
In the footage broadcast during the event, Nana’s mother is a trader with uncertain income, while her father has been out of contact for years. Nana lives daily with her grandmother in the Central Jakarta area.
After that, Aljabar Nur became the last prospective student to introduce himself in front of Seskab Teddy and the Minister of Social Affairs.
Aljabar, with a trembling voice holding back tears, admitted that he has never been to school.
“Introduce myself, my name is Muhammad Aljabar, I’m originally from East Jakarta, I haven’t been to school yet, sir,” said Aljabar while holding back tears.
Seskab Teddy, upon seeing that, immediately gave encouragement and uplifted Aljabar’s spirits.
In the same event, Social Minister Saifullah Yusuf explained that the prospective People’s School students were selected through direct field screening, then their data was matched with the National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN).
The Ministry of Social Affairs, as the technical implementer of the People’s School programme, has currently built 166 pilot People’s Schools spread across 38 provinces with a capacity of 15,900 students.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Social Affairs will continue to build 101 permanent People’s Schools in 2026. This construction is part of the government’s major target to build a total of 500 permanent People’s Schools by 2029.