Education Bill Removes Budget Allocation for Civil Service Schools

The Chair of House Commission X, Hetifah Sjaifudian, has stated that the Bill amending Law Number 20 of 2003 on the National Education System (Sisdiknas) reinforces the mandatory spending requirement of at least 20 percent in accordance with the constitution. One proof of this reinforcement, she explained, is the provision removing the education budget allocation for financing higher education organised by ministries or agencies, known as civil service schools. “Now, under the RUU Sisdiknas, it is no longer permitted. The budget for civil service education becomes the responsibility of each respective ministry,” Hetifah said at the DPR, MPR, and DPD Complex on Thursday, 16 July 2026. Based on the 8 July 2026 draft of the bill seen by Tempo, Article 233 paragraph (3) stipulates that national education funding provisions are not intended to finance civil service education. The article also regulates that the education budget allocation excludes funding for education and training organised by the central government within ministries or agencies, as well as by regional governments. Hetifah noted that the proposal to separate the civil service school budget from the education budget has long been discussed by House Commission X, particularly during the drafting of the RUU Sisdiknas. She recounted that discussions by the PTKL Working Committee some time ago concluded on the need to reorganise the governance of higher education organised by ministries or agencies to clarify functions, authority, and financing mechanisms. She added that the separation of civil service school financing from the education budget is also regulated in several laws reinforced by a Constitutional Court ruling. These include Article 31 paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution, Article 49 paragraph (1) of the current Education Law, Constitutional Court Decision Number 024/PUU-V/2007, and Government Regulation Number 18 of 2022. From these various regulatory provisions, she concluded that the mandatory 20 percent education budget allocation from the state and regional budgets cannot be used to finance civil service schools. “Civil service education is not included in the education sector,” said the Golkar Party politician. Another provision, Article 87 of Government Regulation Number 57 of 2022 on the Implementation of PTKL, also states that the operation of civil service higher education is financed from the budget of the relevant ministry or agency. The controversy over the use of the education budget for civil service schools was previously highlighted during a working meeting between House Commission XI and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. At that time, Commission XI member Melchias Markus Mekeng pointed out that the budget for civil service schools in the 2025 fiscal year was larger than the allocation for general education, which has a far greater number of students. The civil service education budget reached Rp 104.5 trillion, while the general education budget was only Rp 91.4 trillion. He considered this allocation alarming, as the total education budget of 20 percent of the state and regional budgets, approximately Rp 724 trillion, was not distributed fairly and contravened existing regulations. Mekeng detailed that the Rp 104.5 trillion civil service education budget was used to fund 13,000 individuals, whereas the Rp 91.4 trillion general education budget served 64 million people. “We cannot be confident of achieving Golden Indonesia 2045 under these circumstances,” he said on Thursday, 3 July 2025.