Constitutional Court Bars Use of Education Funds for Free Nutritious Meal Programme from 2027

JAKARTA – The Constitutional Court (MK) has partly granted the judicial review petition against Law Number 17 of 2025 on the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) for Fiscal Year 2026, filed by the Taman Belajar (TB) Nusantara Foundation.

In its ruling, the Court declared that the education budget within the APBN may no longer be used to finance the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme. The Court ordered that MBG funding be separated from the education budget starting from the 2027 fiscal year, or at the latest the 2028 fiscal year.

The Constitutional Court emphasised that the MBG programme remains constitutional as a government priority programme.

The panel of constitutional judges considered that using education funds for the Free Nutritious Meals programme could potentially reduce fulfilment of the constitutional mandate regarding the allocation of the education budget, thereby requiring a separation of financing sources.

The separation of the budget is intended to safeguard the constitutional mandate on education spending while providing legal certainty for the implementation of the MBG programme.

The Court’s ruling underscores the importance of education budget management remaining guided by the constitutional mandate, whilst providing legal certainty for the implementation of policies under the 2026 State Budget.