Plaintiffs: Free Nutritious Meals Programme Must Not Burden Education Budget

Several legal academics from the Constitutional and Administrative Law Society (CALS) have asserted that education budgets cannot be redirected or burdened for programmes outside the primary function of education, including the free nutritious meals (MBG) programme.

The statement was made in a written submission as an interested party in the material review of the National Education System Act and the 2026 State Budget at the Constitutional Court. “Education budget must continue to be used for financing the core implementation of education,” said Titi Anggraini, a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Indonesia, on Tuesday, 17 March 2026.

CALS considers incorporating the MBG programme into the education budget component as potentially deviating from constitutional mandate. Article 31(4) of the 1945 Constitution requires the state to allocate a minimum of 20 per cent of the budget for education. However, according to them, what must be safeguarded is not only the amount but also the purpose of its use.

“The budget cannot be interpreted loosely to the extent that it reduces allocation for teaching and learning activities,” she said.

Yance Arizona, a law lecturer from Gadjah Mada University, considered using education budgets for the MBG programme as potentially eroding the fulfilment of citizens’ basic rights. According to him, when education budgets are diverted for other programmes, the state actually hinders efforts to fulfil the right to education. “The Constitution requires strengthening, not reduction or reallocation of the education sector budget,” Yance stated.

CALS emphasised that this matter is not merely a technical budgeting issue but concerns constitutional protection and the future of national education. They called upon the Constitutional Court to affirm that education budgets cannot be used as fiscal space to finance programmes outside their primary function.

Besides Titi and Yance, interested parties in this submission include Dhia Al Uyun, Bivitri Susanti, and Raden Violla Reininda Hafidz, who are also members of CALS. Through this material review, the plaintiffs hope that education budgets remain protected and used entirely for education interests.