Government to Build Integrated National School in Penajam to Expand Access to Quality Education
The government has designated Penajam Paser Utara Regency as one of the priority locations for the construction of an integrated national school (SNT), to expand access to quality education in East Kalimantan Province. “The SNT programme is to expand access to quality education,” said Gogot Suharwoto, Director General of Early Childhood Education, Basic Education, and Non-formal and Informal Education at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, on Friday. “SNT is also expected to reduce educational disparities between regions, and produce a superior and competitive young generation,” he added.
Penajam Paser Utara Regency has been designated as a prospective priority location for the implementation of SNT in 2026, with the local government acting as the driver and strategic partner to bridge collaboration and build synergy in addressing educational challenges in the region. SNT is not merely an educational infrastructure development programme, but a manifestation of shared commitment involving various parties and is sustainable across generations.
SNT is a national priority programme in the education sector, presenting a non-boarding model of excellent schools that combines elementary, junior high, and senior high school levels within one integrated area. The government is delivering quality, high-standard, and integrated education for Indonesian children to the farthest corners of the country through the SNT programme, Gogot Suharwoto explained.
The Penajam Paser Utara Regency government is committed to supporting the central government’s efforts to produce a superior generation through strengthening equitable, inclusive, and competitive education quality. The regency government has prepared a plot of land covering approximately 20 hectares in the Babulu District as the location for the SNT construction, said Penajam Paser Utara Regent Mudyat Noor, noting the location has been proposed to the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.
The prepared land is an asset owned by the Penajam Paser Utara Regency Government and is expected to meet feasibility standards so that the SNT can be built this year. The SNT programme will deliver inclusive, integrated education services free of charge, according to him, and can be accessed by high-achieving students from all sub-districts regardless of economic or social background. A team from the ministry plans to soon conduct site checks and verification for SNT construction in each region, Mudyat Noor concluded.