Education Minister: Free Nutritious Meal Programme Does Not Reduce Education Budget
Minister of Basic and Secondary Education Abdul Mu’ti has affirmed that the free nutritious meal programme (MBG) does not reduce the education budget at his ministry. He assured that strategic education programmes continue to operate and will even be expanded in 2026.
“If there is an assumption that the MBG reduces the education budget, we state firmly that this is not true. The president’s education programmes continue to be implemented as well as possible,” Mu’ti said at a Coordination Meeting on the Implementation of the MBG Programme in East Java on Thursday, 19 February 2026.
The meeting was chaired by Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan and attended by, among others, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Bima Arya, Head of the National Nutrition Agency Dadan Hidayana, and East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa.
Mu’ti noted that in 2025 the government allocated Rp16.9 trillion for the revitalisation of 16,167 educational units across Indonesia. He said construction work had reached 93 per cent completion. “This is proof that the state’s commitment to improving education infrastructure remains strong,” he said.
For 2026, the revitalisation budget recorded in the state budget is said to exceed Rp14 trillion and will be allocated to 11,474 educational units.
He added that President Prabowo Subianto plans to provide additional revitalisation funding for 60,000 educational units. “So in total, once it is incorporated into the state budget, we are proposing that this year we will have revitalisation for approximately 71,000 educational units,” Mu’ti said.
Beyond infrastructure, Mu’ti confirmed that learning digitalisation programmes, educational assistance for students, and teacher training will continue. He also stressed that the budget for the Indonesia Pintar Programme (PIP) for primary, junior secondary, senior secondary, and special needs school students has not been reduced.
Indeed, in 2026 the government will add PIP funding for kindergarten pupils amounting to Rp450,000 per year for 888,000 pupils across Indonesia. “This year we will allocate it for 888,000 kindergarten pupils,” he said.
According to Mu’ti, the MBG is a strategic component of efforts to improve human resource quality from school age. Based on data as of 18 February 2026, the programme has reached 280,023 educational units with 43.17 million student beneficiaries.
He described the MBG as part of the Seven Habits of a Great Indonesia Programme, which encompasses healthy living habits, worship, a love of learning, and community engagement. “Nutritious meals are not just about nutrition, but part of character building,” he said.
To support MBG implementation, the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education also built and rehabilitated 14,591 toilets at 11,490 educational units and 6,686 school health rooms throughout 2025. According to Mu’ti, these facilities form the foundation for instilling clean and healthy living habits in the school environment.
Mu’ti’s assertion comes amid public debate over state budget priorities, particularly after the MBG became one of the flagship programmes of President Prabowo’s administration. The government has emphasised that the programme does not erode education allocations but runs in parallel with the strengthening of infrastructure and educational assistance.
However, examining the appendix to Presidential Regulation Number 118 of 2025 on the Detailed State Revenue and Expenditure Budget for 2026, the MBG budget falls under the education budget line. Of the total education budget of Rp769 trillion, some Rp223 trillion is allocated to the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to run the MBG programme.
In the 2026 state budget, the government has also cut spending, particularly transfers to regional governments (TKD). These funds are typically used for school operational assistance grants and physical education special allocation funds.
These education budget cuts already occurred in the 2025 state budget. For instance, the initial ceiling for the Ministry of Higher Education was Rp57.68 trillion, which was subsequently reduced to Rp43 trillion. Meanwhile, the initial ceiling for the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, originally Rp33.55 trillion, was cut to Rp26.27 trillion.