Mendikdasmen Submits Rp181 Trillion Additional Education Budget, Not for MBG

Menteri Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah (Mendikdasmen) Abdul Mu’ti said that his ministry had submitted a Rp181 trillion Anggaran Belanja Tambahan (ABT) to the DPR. He emphasised that the ABT submission is not for the free nutritious meals programme (MBG).

“We have already briefed the DPR on this ABT,” Mu’ti said after a coordination meeting on the MBG programme at the Central Java Provincial Government Office in Semarang, on Tuesday (3 March 2026).

“We are awaiting a decision from the DPR,” he added.

The first programme proposed under the ABT is funding for the revitalisation of 20,000 educational units, because many educational units are in a damaged and concerning condition.

“We have proposed additional funding for revitalising 20,000 educational units,” said the Secretary General of Muhammadiyah’s Central Leadership.

The second programme is Education Digitisation. In line with President Prabowo Subianto’s directive, each educational unit will receive an additional allocation of an Interaktif Flat Panel (IFP) or a Digital Interactive Panel (PID). It is planned that in 2026 the Ministry will distribute IFPs to more than 325,000 educational units.

“For digitisation, we will distribute three IFPs per educational unit,” he said.

Another programme approved by the DPR is a scholarship programme for teachers who have not attained a Diploma 4 (D4) or bachelor’s degree (S1). Under this programme, teachers will receive a scholarship of 3 million per semester.

“The scholarship will be given to 150,000 teachers across Indonesia,” Mu’ti said.

Contract teachers will also receive increased attention from the government. In the ABT proposal submitted by the Ministry to the DPR, contract teachers will receive an additional incentive. “Incentives for contract teachers will be increased, from Rp 300,000 to Rp 400,000,” Mu’ti said.

Meanwhile, Mu’ti stated that MBG is an integral part of the ministry’s programmes.

“Especially related to the seven Habits of Indonesia Hebat, namely waking up early, praying, exercising, eating a healthy, nutritious diet, studying diligently, being part of the community and going to bed early,” he said.

MBG is also part of the Character Education programme, which is a Presidential Priority programme and a Priority Programme of the Ministry of Education. It comprises instilling spiritual values, social values, orderliness, discipline, responsibility, leadership, clean culture, etiquette, and so on. “So MBG has a very direct link to the Ministry of Education and Culture’s programmes,” he said.

Mu’ti then revealed that, according to the latest report from the Secretary General of the Ministry, MBG recipients currently number 49,614,433 students, out of a total 53,394,088 students enrolled in schools, or 93 percent of all students in Indonesia. The remaining 3,780,445 students have not yet received it.

Meanwhile, 288,845 schools have already received MBG out of the total 434,812 educational units, or 66.5 percent of schools in Indonesia. “Thus, the achievements are already very high,” he said.

The Ministry of Education and Culture has found interesting insights into MBG’s contribution to character education and students’ motivation to learn. In a collaborative study with Lab Sosio of Universitas Indonesia, it was found that MBG helps students access nutritious food, particularly among the low socio-economic group.

MBG also provides a pleasant experience from the products and communal meals and increases learning enthusiasm. Moreover, MBG is well-liked and perceived as beneficial by students.

“Therefore, this programme is expected to be sustainable and its quality improved,” Mu’ti said.