Construction of Schools Affected by Sumatra Disasters Waits for Designation of Permanent Housing Sites

Construction of permanent schools in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra to replace damaged buildings will be undertaken after the location of the permanent housing sites (huntap) is finalised. For now, many disaster-affected residents are still living in temporary shelters (huntara).

‘For the construction of permanent schools we also have to wait first, wait until huntap is finished and we know where its location is,’ said Suharti, Secretary General of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen) in Tangerang, on Monday, 2 March 2026.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen), Suharti said, will follow where the community will live in the future. She noted that, at present, many residents still live in huntara. Therefore, they are not certain to stay there long.

Nevertheless, Kemendikdasmen has prepared funding for permanent schools at disaster locations. The budget comes from funds originally allocated for renovating and constructing 11,000 education units across Indonesia.

‘Part of it has been diverted to recovery in disaster areas, not only in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra, but also the impacts of previous disasters whose rehabilitation and reconstruction have not yet been completed,’ he said.

In addition, Kemendikdasmen is distributing special allowances for teachers affected by floods in Sumatra. The special allowance targets 59,000 teachers and more than half of teachers have already received it,’ said Jamjam Muzaki, National Secretariat of the Disaster-Safe Education Unit (SPAB) of Kemendikdasmen.

Jamjam noted that each teacher receives an allowance of Rp2 million per month. The allowance will be paid for three months, bringing the total allowance per person to Rp6 million.

The distribution of the allowance began from December 2025. Although we are now in the final month, authorities continue to monitor real needs in disaster areas, especially for new proposals for assistance.

‘This is being done by verifying several new proposals that have just been submitted. Because data collection on the ground is dynamic,’ he explained.