Gus Ipul Emphasises DTSEN as Basis for Recruiting Students for People's School

Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf (Gus Ipul) has emphasised that there will be no open public registration for admitting new pupils to the People’s School for the 2026/2027 academic year. The admission process will instead be conducted through direct outreach to prospective students using the DTSEN Volume 2 database for 2026. “In line with the President’s directive, there must be no nepotism. No bribery. No corruption, collusion, and nepotism. But everything must be reached based on DTSEN,” said Gus Ipul in his statement on Monday (13/4/2026). Gus Ipul explained that outreach to prospective learners must proceed transparently and accountably. Therefore, DTSEN serves as the primary reference for determining eligible prospective students. Furthermore, Gus Ipul stated that field outreach mechanisms will be carried out by facilitators from the Ministry of Social Affairs, Social Services Offices, and BPS personnel. The facilitators will engage with communities to verify family conditions, ensure parental consent for prospective students, and confirm that candidates meet the criteria. “Recruitment is for children from the most impoverished families. Families whose children may not yet be in school, are not attending school, have dropped out, or are at risk of dropping out,” he clarified. Gus Ipul added that all parties involved in the selection must adhere to rules and procedures and consistently implement the President’s directives. Therefore, he urged the public to monitor the selection process directly. If violations are found, the public can report them immediately through the official channels provided by the Ministry of Social Affairs. This is intended to ensure that the People’s School programme reaches its intended targets and is filled by children from poor and extremely poor families. This aligns with President Prabowo Subianto’s idea of breaking the chain of poverty. Gus Ipul reported that the construction of permanent People’s School buildings in various regions across Indonesia is progressing according to target. The construction is targeted to be completed in July before the new academic year’s orientation begins. Finally, Gus Ipul expressed thanks to all parties involved. This is because the permanent People’s School construction is the result of cross-sector collaboration involving ministries and agencies, as well as local governments. “Yes (the construction) is going very well. So even though there are dynamics in the field, hopefully everything can be handled well,” he concluded.