Government Imposes Moratorium on New Social-Humanities Programmes

The government has assured that there will be no closures of existing academic programmes at higher education institutions. However, the opening of new programmes in the fields of social sciences and humanities has been temporarily halted. Muhammad Najib, Director of Institutions at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (Kemendiktisaintek), stated that the ministry is currently implementing controls through a moratorium, or temporary suspension, on the opening of new programmes in social-humanities fields. This policy is being pursued to align higher education directions with national development needs. “We are indeed implementing controls through a moratorium. So, we are not opening new programmes in social-humanities fields. But existing programmes are not being closed,” he said when contacted on Tuesday, 28 April 2026. In contrast, the government is encouraging universities to open programmes deemed more relevant to national priorities, such as food security, nutrition, and renewable energy. The need for experts in these fields is said to be continuously increasing, in line with government programmes and changing societal trends. Najib gave the example of the growing need for nutritionists, not only in hospitals but also in society, which is now increasingly concerned with dietary patterns. Additionally, the demand for veterinarians is also rising due to changes in societal behaviour in caring for pets. In the process, Najib explained, universities wishing to close a programme must submit a request to the Higher Education Service Agency (LLDIKTI) for evaluation. If the reasons are deemed valid, such as a lack of students or limited resources, the proposal is generally approved. Najib emphasised that the government does not have a policy of unilaterally closing programmes. According to him, closures are entirely at the discretion of the universities. “Programme closures are bottom-up in nature, based on proposals from the universities. It’s not the government that closes them,” Najib stated. He said that this mechanism refers to Minister of Education and Culture Regulation (Permendikbud) Number 7 of 2020 on the establishment, changes, and revocation of academic programme permits. In practice, universities propose closures if a programme is deemed no longer relevant or has lost interest from students. This phenomenon, Najib said, is common in three-year diploma (D3) programmes, such as D3 Midwifery and D3 Accounting. Changes in industry needs, which now demand D4 or bachelor’s qualifications, have led to some D3 programmes being abandoned by students. “The number of students has decreased, even to zero, so universities propose closures,” he said.