Komdigi and Brawijaya University Collaborate on AI System for 'Sekolah Rakyat'
The government is currently developing an artificial intelligence (AI)-based management and learning system to support the operation of ‘Sekolah Rakyat’ (People’s Schools). The technology is the result of the Artificial Intelligence Talent Factory (AITF) programme run by the Human Resources Development Agency (BPSDM) of the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi), involving students from the Faculty of Computer Science at Brawijaya University (Filkom UB). It is projected to be implemented in hundreds of Sekolah Rakyat for the 2026/2027 academic year.
Representing Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf, Secretary General of the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos), Robben Rico, stated that the use of AI will assist headmasters and teachers in developing curricula, delivering lessons, and creating pre-test and post-test questions. He made the statement after attending the AITF 2026 Demo Day & Graduation at the Algoritma Auditorium of Brawijaya University in Malang, East Java, on Tuesday (30/6).
‘In principle, this governance covers everything from upstream to downstream. This is one example we will develop. We have agreed to bring this application to the 178 Sekolah Rakyat that will be operational in the 2026/2027 academic year,’ Robben said. The development of the AI system will be accompanied by direct mentoring for teachers and education staff at the 178 schools. Kemensos is also inviting the AITF programme’s developer talents to participate in socialising the implementation to more than 5,000 Sekolah Rakyat teachers across Indonesia.
Furthermore, Kemensos will integrate the AI system produced by the AITF programme with the Learning Management System (LMS) in Sekolah Rakyat to support the realisation of a Digital Quotient in learning. According to Robben, Kemensos is also ensuring that the implementation of AI technology can be utilised evenly across all Sekolah Rakyat. The programme’s execution will be supervised by Komdigi to ensure optimal application.
‘We at Kemensos, with the permission of the Minister of Social Affairs, will ensure that the implementation of this programme can be assisted and covered by a proper budget. This is a prototype that must then be realised into an actual application,’ he stated. Kemensos is targeting all innovations resulting from the development by Komdigi and UB’s AITF participants to be fully realised by the end of 2026.
Meanwhile, Head of the Human Resources Development Agency at Komdigi, Bonifasius Wahyu Pudjianto, mentioned that the AITF programme is a collaboration between Komdigi and several universities in Indonesia. Besides Brawijaya University, the programme also involves the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology and Gadjah Mada University. Each campus is given a different development focus according to the needs for solving problems in the field. ‘UB is focused on Sekolah Rakyat, which will be used by Kemensos, and social assistance that will later be used by the East Java Provincial Government,’ Bonifasius concluded.