Prabowo: Education Costs from Primary School to State Universities Must Be Free

President Prabowo Subianto has promised to eliminate tuition fees for state schools and universities. He stated that the government will soon discuss this policy during a limited cabinet meeting (ratas).

“I strongly agree, and I will immediately convene a limited meeting. In short, the costs of state education must be free,” said Prabowo during his speech at the 28th anniversary of the PAN party on Friday, 18 September 2026.

According to Prabowo, free education must encompass all levels of state education, starting from primary school (SD), junior high school (SMP), senior high school (SMA), up to state universities.

“The costs for primary, junior high, senior high, and state universities must be free!” he emphasised.

Prabow addressed those questioning the source of funding if such a free education policy were implemented. He suggested that the budget could be derived from government efforts to eradicate corruption and recover stolen state funds.

“Later, later, later, there will be those who ask, where will the money come from? The money comes from what has been corrupted, what has been pilfered, and what has been stolen,” he remarked.

On that occasion, the former Minister of Defence stated that over the last two years, the government has continued to work on addressing various issues faced by the public. He cited examples such as building village bridges, repairing damaged schools, and improving school sanitation facilities.

“Bridges in villages must be built, schools must be repaired immediately—collapsed roofs, schools without proper toilets—we must fix them,” he said.

In addition to educational infrastructure, Prabowo stated that the government also needs to improve the welfare of teachers, judges, and nurses. According to him, increasing welfare is part of the effort to prevent practices of corruption and bribery.

“Teachers’ salaries must be improved, judges’ salaries must be improved because we want to eradicate corruption. We do not want our judges to be bribed, we do not want our judges to be bought. Our nurses must be looked after, our doctors must be looked after,” Prabowo concluded.