Ministry seeks additional budget to revitalise 60,000 schools
“Revitalization is part of the national priority programs initiated by President Prabowo Subianto to strengthen education quality by improving school facilities and infrastructure,” Primary and Secondary Education Minister Abdul Mu’ti said during the inauguration of a revitalized school in Jember, East Java, on Saturday.
In 2025, the government completed the revitalization of 16,167 schools across Indonesia, meeting 100 percent of the target.
This effort is part of the government’s commitment to ensuring that Indonesian children learn in proper and high-quality environments.
According to the minister, funding for approximately 11,470 schools has already been allocated in the state budget for this year’s revitalization.
Consequently, if the additional budget request is approved, the government will revitalize more than 71,000 schools nationwide in 2026.
“I hope that before 2029, every school in Indonesia will have been reached by this revitalization program,” Mu’ti said.
He explained that this year’s revitalization program will be implemented through a self-management system by each school and carried out based on research conducted by the ministry.
He further said that this initiative also creates jobs for the local residents and drives the regional economy.
“Construction materials will be prioritized to be sourced from local shops, and the workforce will involve the local community,” the minister remarked.
On the same occasion, Jember District Head Muhammad Fawait noted that at the beginning of his term in early 2025, there were 1,532 heavily damaged school buildings across Jember. The figure does not include those categorized as having light or moderate damage.
This situation presents a massive challenge that cannot be resolved by relying on the district government budget alone.
Following updates on the Education Primary Data, Jember was allotted a quota of 124 schools in the central government’s school revitalization program in 2025.
“In 2026, the Jember District Government is proposing more than 300 heavily damaged schools to be included in the next phase of the revitalization program,” Fawait said.
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Translator: Zumrotun Solichah, Raka Adji