Government Steps In to Help Street Children: Here Is the Programme

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – National Development Planning Minister and head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Rachmat Pambudy said the government has a programme to enrol children living on the streets back in school. The Social Affairs Ministry is currently intensifying the programme.

Rachmat said the programme was run by the Social Affairs Ministry. Under the initiative, children found on the streets are reported and enrolled in school. However, Rachmat did not clarify whether the schools in question are Sekolah Rakyat schools.

“That is part of our responsibility as the government, in accordance with Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution,” Rachmat said at the National Empowerment Dialogue on Wednesday (14 October 2026).

In 2025, the Social Affairs Ministry said street children were among the main target groups for the government’s Sekolah Rakyat programme.

Idit Supriadi Priatna, secretary of the ministry’s Directorate General of Social Rehabilitation, said the street children selected for the programme would be identified using the National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN), integrated with the Basic Education Data (Dapodik).

Children in deciles 1 and 2 of the DTSEN — the poorest groups — are the main priority, particularly those no longer listed in Dapodik, meaning they have dropped out of school.

“Decile 1 includes those in extreme poverty, and they are the top priority. Children who are not registered in Dapodik are also prioritised, including those on the streets who are not in school,” Idit said in Bandung on Saturday (5 July 2025), as quoted by CNN Indonesia.