MP Assesses 20 Per Cent State Budget Allocation Sufficient to Realise Free Education

The constitutional mandate requiring a 20 per cent allocation of the State Budget (APBN) for the education sector is capable of not only making public schools free but also private education.

Abdul Fikri Faqih, a member of Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), assessed that the 20 per cent education budget allocation from the APBN is sufficient to realise President Prabowo Subianto’s plan to provide free education from primary school (SD) to higher education.

“With the 20 per cent education budget from the APBN as mandated by our constitution, the PKS Faction has calculated that from primary school to higher education (PT), not only public schools but private ones can also be free,” Fikri stated in Jakarta on Monday.

Furthermore, he conveyed that fulfilling the constitutional mandate, which requires a 20 per cent allocation of the State Budget (APBN) for the education sector, is capable of making public schools free and reaching private educational institutions as well.

Fikri also noted that concrete steps towards comprehensive free education will soon have an execution basis. By 2027, he said, the APBN structure will begin to implement the mandate of the Constitutional Court (MK) Decision Number 03/XXII/2024. Based on that decision, education costs for primary (SD) and junior high school (SMP) levels, both public and private, must be free.

“I strongly agree; I will immediately hold a limited meeting (ratas) or, essentially, public school education costs must be free,” he said.

According to Prabowo, one source of funding could come from the recovery of state funds that have been corrupted or stolen.

“Later, there will be those who ask, where will the money come from? It will come from the money that was corrupted, stolen, or embezzled,” he remarked.

This statement expands upon the commitment previously expressed by Prabowo regarding free education in public schools. In a speech regarding the 2027 State Budget Bill and the Financial Note on 14 August 2026, Prabowo stated that the government would strive to ensure Indonesian children can attend public schools for free. At that time, Prabowo emphasised that education is a right for all Indonesian children and that the government is obligated to expand access to education without fees.