Ministry of Social Affairs: Tens of Thousands of Workers Involved in Building Permanent People's Schools

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Social Affairs is optimistic that the construction of permanent People’s School buildings will be completed on schedule, given the involvement of tens of thousands of workers in building the facilities at more than 100 sites.

“Some construction sites even have hundreds of workers, so in total, around 60,000 workers are involved in the project,” said Social Minister Saifullah Yusuf in Jakarta on Monday.

According to him, the physical construction of the People’s Schools is being carried out by the Ministry of Public Works (PU) in coordination with the Ministry of Social Affairs regarding the operational readiness of the programme.

The Ministry of Social Affairs confirmed that as of now, construction progress at several locations has reached 20-30% thanks to collaboration between ministries/institutions and local governments to meet the completion targets.

The target for completing the permanent People’s Schools construction is by the end of June 2026, so they can be used in July for the School Environment Introduction Period (MPLS) for new students.

In addition to infrastructure development, the Ministry of Social Affairs is also preparing the outreach process for prospective students who will attend education at the People’s Schools based on the National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN) to ensure the programme reaches low-income families.

“It’s already in process,” he added.

The People’s School is one of President Prabowo Subianto’s priority programmes to provide free and quality education access for children from families with the lowest welfare levels (Deciles 1-4) in the National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN).

This programme is designed as an integrated poverty alleviation model by combining various flagship government programmes such as Free Health Checks (CKG), Free Nutritious Meals (MBG), PBI-JK health insurance, Red and White Village/Urban Village Cooperatives, and the 3 Million Houses Programme for beneficiary students’ families.

As the technical implementer, the Ministry of Social Affairs reported that there are currently 166 pilot People’s Schools spread across 38 provinces, with a capacity of 15,900 students, supported by 2,400 teachers and more than 4,000 educational personnel at the elementary, junior high, and senior high school levels or equivalent.

Furthermore, there are 101 permanent People’s Schools being built by the government this year. The project is part of the government’s larger target to build a total of 500 permanent People’s Schools by 2029.