Komdigi and UB Develop AI System for 'Sekolah Rakyat'

The government has begun developing governance and learning systems based on artificial intelligence (AI) to support the implementation of Sekolah Rakyat (People’s Schools). The technology is a product of the AI Talent Factory (AITF) programme run by the Human Resources Development Agency (BPSDM) of the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) in collaboration with students from the Faculty of Computer Science at Brawijaya University (Filkom UB). It is projected to be applied in hundreds of Sekolah Rakyat by the 2026/2027 academic year. Representing Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf, Secretary General of the Ministry of Social Affairs Robben Rico stated that the use of AI will assist headmasters and teachers in developing curricula, managing lessons, and creating pre-test and post-test questions. “In principle, this governance covers everything from upstream to downstream. This is one example that we will develop. We have agreed to bring this application to 178 Sekolah Rakyat that will be operational in the 2026/2027 academic year,” Robben said in a written statement on Wednesday (1/7/2026). He made the remarks after attending the AITF 2026 Demo Day and Graduation at the Algoritma Auditorium of Brawijaya University in Malang, East Java, on Tuesday (30/6). He explained that the development of the AI system would be accompanied by direct assistance to teachers and educators in the 178 Sekolah Rakyat. The Ministry of Social Affairs is also inviting the talented developers from the AITF programme to participate in the socialisation of its implementation to more than 5,000 Sekolah Rakyat teachers across Indonesia. Furthermore, the Ministry of Social Affairs 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, the Ministry of Social Affairs will also ensure that the implementation of AI technology is evenly distributed across all Sekolah Rakyat. The programme’s execution will be supervised by the Ministry of Communication and Digital to ensure optimal application. “With the Minister’s permission, the Ministry of Social Affairs will ensure that the implementation of this programme can be supported and covered by a proper budget. This is a prototype that must be realised into an actual application,” he stated. The Ministry of Social Affairs is targeting the full realisation of all innovations developed by the Komdigi-UB AITF participants by the end of 2026. Meanwhile, Head of the Human Resources Development Agency at the Ministry of Communication and Digital, Bonifasius Wahyu Pudjianto, said the AITF programme is a collaboration between the Ministry of Communication and Digital 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 of problem-solving in the field. “UB is focused on Sekolah Rakyat, which will be used by the Ministry of Social Affairs, and social assistance, which will be used by the East Java Provincial Government,” concluded Bonifasius.