Social Affairs and Housing Ministers Accelerate Home Renovations for Sekolah Rakyat Students

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) and the Ministry of Housing and Settlement Areas (PKP) have agreed to strengthen strategic synergy to accelerate the realisation of the home repair programme, or bedah rumah, for parents of Sekolah Rakyat students.

In a statement issued in Jakarta on Tuesday, Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf, also known as Gus Ipul, said the Sekolah Rakyat programme forms part of poverty alleviation efforts. Its implementation therefore synergises with President Prabowo Subianto’s other priority programmes, one of which is the home renovation programme.

“The children go to school, while their parents receive interventions through various strategic programmes from the President, such as empowerment, PBI, and one of them is home renovation,” he said.

The Social Affairs Minister said that this year’s allocation for home repairs for parents of Sekolah Rakyat students stands at 10,000 homes. Of that number, two thousand have undergone verification, with 911 recorded as eligible.

He revealed two main reasons why most of the verified homes did not qualify.

“First, and this is the dominant factor, it relates to land ownership. Second, because the beneficiaries are scattered — just one person, one family, one beneficiary in a single village. Yet the rules require several beneficiaries in one village,” said Gus Ipul.

Gus Ipul proposed that for land ownership, where possible, a letter from the local RT, RW, or kelurahan should suffice. In addition, the minimum number of beneficiaries per village should be removed, so that however many homes there are, they can still be realised.

“Because Sekolah Rakyat is about outreach — there is no academic test, only outreach. Those who are reached are precisely those eligible to attend school, and they are from the lowest decile,” he continued.

Hearing this, Minister of Housing and Settlement Areas Maruarar Sirait welcomed Gus Ipul’s proposal. He said his ministry would continue coordinating and promptly follow up on the proposals so that the home renovation programme can be realised quickly, especially for parents of Sekolah Rakyat students.

“Because the President’s direction is that Sekolah Rakyat is a flagship and strategic programme of President Prabowo, and I will certainly support it,” said Maruarar Sirait.