Free Education and its Relevance in Achieving Golden Indonesia 2045
President Prabowo Subianto has responded to public aspirations regarding free education, ranging from primary levels to state universities. The President’s response should be accepted as a shared determination and a strategic first step towards achieving the ‘Golden Indonesia 2045’ target. Realising such a large and strategic ambition is never without challenges; however, if several other nations can provide free education, Indonesia certainly can as well.
In his speech during the peak of the 28th Anniversary celebration of the PAN Party in Jakarta on Friday (18/9), the President stated that the government must organise free education from primary levels up to universities or state universities (PTN). Five days later, on Wednesday (23/9) afternoon, President Prabowo held a limited meeting (Ratas) at the Merdeka Palace. The main agenda of the meeting focused on discussing government strategies and policies to realise free education for all levels, including kindergarten, primary, junior high, senior high, and state universities. The expansion of free education is expected to be implemented gradually.
The President’s statement regarding the determination to realise free education immediately captured the attention of all elements of society. Many communities are delighted and support this resolve. Beyond mere support, education observers and activists have begun to highlight several challenges that must be addressed immediately to ensure this strategic policy achieves its ideal goals.
One of the most discussed challenges is the budgetary requirement for free education. For instance, Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR) has provided an initial calculation of the required budget, reaching IDR 393.7 trillion. The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology requires IDR 93.7 trillion to cover approximately 2.83 million students active in state universities, across both academic and vocational tracks (D3, D4, and S1). The remainder, approximately IDR 300 trillion, is the budget needed by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
In reality, challenges in the world of education are quite diverse. Cost is only one issue. These diverse challenges are common knowledge, and because of them, the education ecosystem in Indonesia is considered far from ideal. Challenges include improving learning quality, teacher shortages, uneven teacher distribution, and infrastructure gaps. For example, the number of damaged schools is projected to reach 196,022 educational units by 2026. Official data this year also indicates that approximately 4.1 million school-aged children are not, or have not yet, attended school. Therefore, in addition to questioning the budget for free education, these real problems deserve special attention to be addressed gradually.
Before President Prabowo initiated the free education plan, the education sector was already challenged to help achieve the Golden Indonesia 2045 target by producing superior human resources with the competence to face the challenges of the 2040s. In that era, approximately 70 percent of Indonesia’s population will be of productive age. Consequently, the national education sector is challenged to turn the demographic bonus of the 2040s into a productive and innovative advantage.
With President Prabowo’s free education initiative, more opportunities are opening for the Indonesian education sector to provide significant contributions. The issue is not whether it is possible or not, but rather the courage to face and overcome every challenge. Several countries have experience in providing free education for children and adolescents, such as Finland, Germany, Norway, Denmark, France, the Philippines, Slovenia, Iceland, Bulgaria, Belgium, and Austria.
A critical challenge requiring attention is the teaching staff. Indonesia does not only suffer from a shortage of teachers; the teaching community also requires wise treatment from the state, particularly regarding welfare and employment status. The fact of the teacher shortage was revisited by Commission X of the DPR RI during a working meeting with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education on Tuesday (22/9). Indonesia lacks 464,856 teachers, with vacancies reaching 224,545 people.
During that forum, it was also revealed that from the data of over one million unemployed graduates, 7.1 percent, or 71,000 individuals, are graduates of education study programmes. This means that amidst the teacher shortage, 71,000 potential teaching talents have not yet been given the opportunity. Fortunately, the improvement of teachers’ employment status continues to be discussed by the government and the DPR. In due course, the government and the DPR are also expected to focus on improving the welfare of the teaching community.
Beyond employment status and welfare, a modern challenge for the teaching community is updating or improving teaching competence. This update is a necessity because current teaching and learning activities have adopted information technology, communication, and interactive digital media. Thanks to the use of the latest technology, such as Zoom and video conferencing, there are options that allow teaching and learning to no longer be confined to the classroom. Learning activities can still be conducted even when teachers and students are separated by distance. Society is now familiar with distance learning (PJJ) patterns.
This trend creates a demand for teachers to understand and master digital technology so that the teaching and learning process becomes more interactive, efficient, and aligned with the lifestyle of today’s students. The use of digital technology also opens access to obtaining lesson materials from many sources worldwide more quickly. This is the challenge currently faced and must be responded to by the teaching community. Amidst low digital literacy in Indonesia, the government is expected to facilitate the teaching community by providing access to…