Garuda School Teacher Candidates Must Be 32 or Under — Here's Why

Ahmad Najib Burhani, Director of Science and Technology at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (Kemendiktisaintek), has explained the reasoning behind the maximum age requirement of 32 years for prospective Garuda School teachers. Najib said all Garuda School teachers are projected to become civil servants (PNS).

Accordingly, Najib stated that the maximum age of 32 is the safest threshold for teachers. “The primary reason is to enable their entry into the PNS scheme,” Najib said at a press conference on Garuda School socialisation at Kemendiktisaintek in South Jakarta on Wednesday, 18 February 2026.

Najib explained that Garuda School teachers will initially be recruited through the government employees with work agreements (PPPK) scheme. They will subsequently be facilitated to sit the national PNS selection examination. “This gives them the opportunity to enter the civil service in this year’s or next year’s intake,” Najib said.

Regarding the requirement that school principals must be over 40 years of age, Najib said this is to ensure that the principals recruited are already experienced. “We expect them to be experienced and transferred from existing PNS positions,” he said.

Najib also outlined the facilities planned for Garuda Schools, which will be built on sites of approximately 20 hectares. Of that total area, only around two to three hectares will be used for buildings, with the remainder allocated to open spaces, sports fields, gardens, and supplementary learning facilities.

Garuda Schools are designed as boarding schools in areas deemed to have limited access to quality education. Locations mentioned include Soe in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), North Kalimantan, Belitung, and South Konawe in Southeast Sulawesi.