Jokowi Details Gibran’s Education History and Explains Differences in Overseas School Systems

Controversy over Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s educational qualifications has resurfaced after the Constitutional Court delivered its ruling in the 2024 presidential and vice-presidential election dispute. Former president Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, has now spoken about his son’s education history.

Jokowi addressed not only calls for Gibran’s impeachment that emerged after the court’s ruling, but also explained that education systems in Indonesia and overseas have different stages. He made the remarks in Solo on Thursday, 8 October 2026.

Jokowi discusses Gibran’s education system

Jokowi said differences between education systems should be taken into account when discussing the history of someone who studied abroad. Indonesia’s commonly recognised stages, he said, run from primary school through junior and senior secondary school to university.

“Here, the stages from the beginning are primary school, junior secondary school, senior secondary school, a bachelor’s degree, and there are also diploma courses. Other countries have their own systems. Some are like ours, with primary and junior secondary school, followed by secondary school and then university. But there are also systems that use a pathway programme, followed by a diploma and then a bachelor’s degree,” he said.

Jokowi linked this explanation to Gibran’s education, saying that his son had completed an undergraduate degree in Singapore. Anyone who has completed a bachelor’s degree, he said, must have passed the preceding stages.

“If you complete a bachelor’s degree, you must have gone through the earlier stages. Otherwise, you would not be able to enrol in the degree programme,” he said.

Jokowi’s remarks came a day after Gibran also responded to the Constitutional Court’s ruling. Speaking to reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday, 7 October 2026, Gibran said he could not have gone on to university without completing his previous education.

“If I hadn’t graduated from senior secondary school, I wouldn’t have been able to go to university. I studied up to bachelor’s level in Singapore,” Gibran said.

Gibran also said he would follow up on the court’s observations concerning education documents, which formed part of its considerations. “Yes, we’ll follow that up soon,” he said.