DPR Scrutinises Education Budget, Hundreds of Trillions Not Optimally Spent

Jakarta - Deputy Chairman of House Commission XI from the PDI Perjuangan faction, Dolfie Othniel Frederic Palit, has highlighted the suboptimal realisation of the education budget. Dolfie questioned the realisation of mandatory education spending to the Acting Director General of Budget at the Ministry of Finance, Sudarto. “I want to question the realisation of the education budget; this data shows it has never been achieved. I think this is a homework assignment that must be completed by Mr Darto (Director General of Budget),” Dolfie said during a hearing with six Director Generals of the Ministry of Finance on Monday (15/6/2026). Dolfie noted that since 2021, the realisation of the education budget has never met its target. In 2021, for instance, realisation only reached Rp479.6 trillion, or just 87.2 per cent of the set target of Rp550.01 trillion. Similarly, in 2025, only Rp656.62 trillion was realised, or 90.66 per cent of the Rp724.26 trillion target. “From 2021 to 2025, how much of the education budget was not realised? If it had been used, how many schools could have been built, how many students could have received scholarships,” Dolfie continued. He argued this constitutes a violation of constitutional rights because the education budget allocation has never reached 20 per cent of the State Budget (APBN) and its realisation has never reached 100 per cent from 2021 to 2025. “Please look at this, this is why the education budget never reaches 20 per cent. The people’s constitutional rights are being robbed. Where does the remaining budget go? Is it hidden or what? Please pay attention to this again,” he stressed. According to data presented by the Director General of Budget, mandatory education spending from 2021 to 2025 has left a considerable amount of budget unspent. In 2022, Rp70.41 trillion remained unspent, while the figure rose to Rp141.12 trillion in the following year. In 2023, the unspent amount was Rp110.86 trillion, followed by Rp99.61 trillion in 2024, and Rp67.64 trillion in 2025.