Commission X Parliament Member Criticises High Book Prices as Violation of Educational Rights
A member of Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Abdul Fikri Faqih, has criticised the phenomenon of high book prices in Indonesia, which are increasingly shifting from being a basic educational right to becoming a “luxury” for society, especially in regions outside Java. Faqih stressed that if complaints about expensive books continue, it indicates a strong failure to implement Law No. 3 of 2017 on the National Book System.
He reminded parliament that the spirit of this law is to guarantee the availability of quality, affordable, and evenly distributed books from Aceh to Papua. “Actually, textbooks are produced by the government through the Centre for Books at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. However, if complaints about high prices persist among the public below, it means this does not align with the mandate of Law No. 3 of 2017 on the National Book System. We need to conduct an evaluation so that the spirit of affordable, quality, and evenly distributed books is truly realised,” said Faqih in Jakarta on Monday, 9 March 2026.
The politician from the PKS faction also highlighted the systemic impact of book prices on the national literacy rate. According to him, when books are difficult to afford, public reading interest will plummet.
On another front, he observed that the government remains “indecisive” in addressing its digitalisation policy in education compared to other countries such as Australia or Finland. “We do have reasons for the digitalisation era, but the policy remains indecisive. Unlike Australia, which strictly bans social media in schools, we do not have such a stance. Therefore, the only way is through physical books,” he said.
The representative from Central Java Electoral District IX (Tegal City, Tegal Regency and Brebes Regency) emphasised concerns from parents and education psychologists regarding the negative impacts of excessive device use on children’s development. Faqih believed that children’s potential decline could occur due to dependence on social media.
“If the Education Minister’s solution is ‘in-depth learning’, then the main tool—books—must be provided. If they are still expensive, the government is obliged to provide subsidies. If distribution is still uneven, distribute fairly all the way to the remote regions of Papua,” Faqih said.
High logistics costs and lengthy distribution chains currently often make the shipping cost of books outside Java more expensive than the price of the books themselves. Faqih therefore requested that this be immediately addressed through government fiscal policy.