Prabowo Plans Major Investment in Education to Boost Research and Innovation
President Prabowo Subianto believes that progress in research and innovation cannot be separated from the quality of education. The government is therefore placing investment in the education sector as a strategic priority to prepare the next generation capable of producing various innovations.
“To achieve the level of innovation, to achieve the level of breakthroughs, to achieve the level of discoveries, patents, and so on, the foundation is education, and this is why I want to invest quite substantially in education for our future generations,” Prabowo said in his briefing before researchers of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) at the State Palace, Jakarta, Thursday (6/8/2026).
As part of these efforts, Prabowo outlined a number of measures being prepared by the government, ranging from improving the physical condition of schools to building elite schools for high-achieving students.
These elite schools will implement the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum so that their graduates have educational standards on par with the world’s best institutions and are able to compete for places at leading universities worldwide.
“We will cooperate, we will invite the world’s best universities to partner with our universities here. Whether through joint ventures or operational cooperation agreements. So we have two approaches,” Prabowo added.
On that occasion, Prabowo stressed that all these efforts represent a long-term investment requiring sustained commitment. He also acknowledged that Indonesia’s investment in research and development remains suboptimal and must continue to be increased.
“But this is a long-term investment. We must correct ourselves as a nation. Our investment in research and development is very small, far from what it should be. This is a correction for us, and going forward we will strive to improve it,” he said.
To support increased investment in education and research, Prabowo affirmed that the government will continue to strengthen efficiency in state financial management. “For that, of course, we need funds. We will find those funds. Where will they come from? From savings on corrupt practices, corrupt activities, fraudulent practices, fraud, under-invoicing, mismanagement,” Prabowo said.