DPR Still Accepting Input for National Education System Bill

The House of Representatives (DPR) has stated that the draft Bill on the National Education System (RUU Sisdiknas) is not yet final. Deputy Speaker of Commission X, Lalu Hadrian Irfani, said the commission remains very open to receiving various inputs, including the possibility of re-discussing several provisions in the bill as long as they relate to education. “The Sisdiknas Bill is still open to input, whether regarding articles, the body of the law, and so on,” he said when met at the DPR/MPR/DPD Complex on Thursday, 16 July 2026.

Regarding the judicial review of the State Budget Law concerning the financing of the free nutritious meal (MBG) project at the Constitutional Court, he said the DPR is always open to adopting the court’s future ruling. However, he cautioned that the DPR does not want to speculate before the court issues a legally binding decision. Therefore, regarding the Sisdiknas Bill, the DPR hopes the public will continue to provide strategic input. “This bill is not final, so if there are suggestions, opinions, or urgent rulings that must be accommodated, we are always open to discussing them,” said the PKB politician.

Meanwhile, civil society groups, academics, and students have filed a judicial review of the State Budget Law with the Constitutional Court. The reason is that the provisions of Article 22 paragraph (3) and its elucidation in the State Budget Law are considered to have smuggled the MBG project into the education budget. The article states that the education budget reaches IDR 769 trillion or 20 per cent of the total state budget. The problem is that the elucidation of this article states that part of the funds is allocated for the MBG project. Based on Presidential Regulation Number 188 of 2025, IDR 223 trillion of the IDR 769 trillion education budget is allocated to the National Nutrition Agency (BGN). This automatically violates the mandatory spending requirement of a minimum 20 per cent for education, as the education budget effectively only remains around 14 per cent.

Moreover, the inclusion of the MBG project in the education budget has also had a negative impact on the sustainability of teachers’ careers and welfare at every level. The Head of Advocacy for P2G, Iman Zanatul Haeri, said the MBG project has castrated the welfare of teaching staff. A concrete example is the wave of mass layoffs affecting honorary teachers, part-time PPPK, and PPPK. “In Tuban, 39 PPPK teachers had their contracts terminated; in various places like Cianjur, East Lombok, and many more, layoffs have occurred,” he said while testifying as a witness in the judicial review case Number 55/PUU-XXIV/2026 at the Constitutional Court. He continued that the negative impact of this flagship programme of the Prabowo Subianto administration has also led to increasingly minimal income for teachers, especially part-time PPPK teachers. He cited data gathered by P2G showing that many teachers receive wages far below decent standards. In Langkat, North Sumatra, and Blitar, East Java, for example, part-time PPPK teachers only receive a salary of IDR 500,000 per month. “In Sumedang, West Java, it is IDR 50,000,” he said.