DPR Seeks Swift Implementation of Constitutional Court Ruling on Free Nutritious Meals Budget by 2027
Deputy Chair of House of Representatives (DPR) Commission X, MY Esti Wijayati, has requested that the Constitutional Court’s (MK) ruling regarding the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme budget be implemented starting in 2027. She believes the ruling should be executed as soon as possible to improve the quality of education in the country, even though the MK provided an adjustment period until the 2028 state budget at the latest.
“Every effort should be made to implement this starting in the 2027 fiscal year because there is great hope for the education sector to improve and enhance the quality of education through human resource development,” Esti said on Monday, 3 July 2026.
Esti explained that the education budget needs to be directed towards improving the quality of educators, education personnel, students, and university students. Furthermore, the budget should be used to upgrade educational facilities and infrastructure to make them more adequate, and for the welfare of teachers, lecturers, and education personnel evenly and with quality for all.
She assessed that a maximised education budget could also address challenges in the era of globalisation. According to her, Indonesia is facing major changes in the form of digital transformation, the development of artificial intelligence, the green economy, changes in employment structures, and increasing global competition.
In this situation, she stated that education for children is no longer sufficient to merely produce graduates who complete formal education. It must shape Indonesians who possess critical thinking skills, digital literacy, creativity, collaboration abilities, strong character, and readiness for lifelong learning.
She believes that education reform must shift from an administrative orientation towards building human resource quality as the main strategy for national development. This, Esti said, requires a major commitment from the state to ensure that education programmes always receive priority.
“Building superior human resource quality must certainly start with children’s education, because education is the basic capital for national development,” she said.
It was previously reported that the Constitutional Court ordered the government and the DPR to remove the Free Nutritious Meals programme budget from the education sector budget in the state budget. The order was delivered in the judicial review ruling of Law Number 17 of 2025 concerning the 2026 State Budget, filed under case Number 40/PUU-XXIV/2026, which was pronounced in Jakarta on Thursday, 30 July 2026.