Mendukbangga: Access to Decent Education Prevents Young Generation from Early Marriage

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Minister of Population and Family Development (Mendukbangga)/Head of the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN), Wihaji, stated that access to decent education can prevent the young generation from early marriage.

“President Prabowo has strived to provide education access for friends who are less fortunate economically, namely through Sekolah Rakyat and Sekolah Garuda. Although not directly, the Ministry of Population and Family Development/BKKBN is also involved in it,” said Wihaji in an official statement in Jakarta on Friday.

He explained that, according to health theory, couples who marry early or under the age of 19 are at risk of giving birth to stunted children. Therefore, the Ministry of Population and Family Development/BKKBN recommends a minimum marriage age of 21 years for women and 25 years for men.

The statement was delivered during a public lecture at the Faculty of Sharia and Law (FSH), Sunan Gunung Djati State Islamic University (UIN), Bandung, themed “Transformation of Population and Family Development Policies towards Golden Indonesia 2045” on Thursday (9/4).

“Currently, the stunting prevalence in Indonesia is still 19.8 percent based on the 2024 Indonesia Nutrition Status Survey (SSGI), meaning that if there are 10 children, two of them are stunted and have intelligence, height, and weight below average,” he said.

In addition to stunting, early marriage is also very prone to ending in divorce. Based on 2025 BPS data, the number of divorces reached 438,168 cases.

On the same occasion, the Dean of FSH UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, Fauzan Ali Rasyid, stated that divorce rates and stunting risks are still high in West Java.

However, based on data from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), West Java Province has recorded a proud achievement in accelerating the national stunting reduction, namely 5.8 percent, from 21.7 percent in 2023 to 15.9 percent in 2024.