MPR Deputy Speaker Urges Data-Driven Student Admission System to Tackle Under-Subscribed State Primary Schools

Deputy Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Lestari Moerdijat has urged the government to implement a data-based new student admission system (SPMB) to address the large number of state primary schools (SDN) that are under-subscribed. In a statement released in Jakarta on Tuesday, Lestari said improvements to the student admission system must be based on an analysis of the latest data regarding school capacity, demographic conditions, and potential public interest in each region. “The data has spoken. Now is the time for real action. Fix the new student admission system starting from the root of the problem so that every Indonesian child gets fair and quality access to education,” she said. Lestari cited data from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education showing the number of primary school pupils fell from 27.58 million in the 2011/2012 academic year to around 23.9 million in 2024. Over the same period, the number of primary schools increased from 61,566 in 2003 to 72,470 in 2024. According to her, this imbalance demonstrates the need for a more planned and data-driven arrangement of school networks so that the construction of educational facilities aligns with demographic conditions. For example, in Ngawi Regency, East Java, a state primary school received no registrants for the 2026/2027 academic year, while in Malang City, 62 state primary schools had not met their quotas, with around 2,285 seats remaining empty. Lestari also highlighted a shift in public preference. Over the past decade, the number of state primary school students has continued to decline, while enrolment in private primary schools has increased, meaning state schools must improve the quality of their educational services. She also encouraged the central and regional governments to strengthen coordination and develop a population-based education roadmap so that school restructuring policies are more targeted.