Social Affairs Minister Gus Ipul Discusses 'Sekolah Rakyat' Programme with Regional Leaders
Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf, known as Gus Ipul, received an audience with Papua Governor Mathius Derek Fakhiri, South Solok Regent Khairunas, Bantul Regent Abdul Hasim Muslih, and Puncak Deputy Regent Naftali Akawal at the Ministry of Social Affairs office in Jakarta on Monday, 29 June 2026. During the meeting, they discussed the Sekolah Rakyat (People’s Schools) programme, which serves as a solution for millions of Indonesian children who are not in school, have dropped out, or are at risk of dropping out.
“One crucial aspect of Sekolah Rakyat is that it begins with honesty, where we must be honest, ladies and gentlemen, that many school-age children are not in school. They are called ATS, or Anak Tidak Sekolah, and according to BPS data, there are more than four million of them across Indonesia who are not in school, have dropped out, or are at risk of dropping out,” said Gus Ipul, accompanied by Deputy Minister of Social Affairs Agus Jabo Priyono. He further explained that these out-of-school children might be around us without us realising it, and thus they have not been included in the development process.
“Many of the children in Sekolah Rakyat are part of this ATS group. For example, you don’t have to go far to Papua or South Solok. In Jakarta, there is a child named Al-Jabbar, just 15 kilometres from the State Palace, who is 15 years old but has never attended school,” he stated. President Prabowo Subianto refers to these children as ‘the invisible people’, families whose suffering is not visible, and they receive special attention from the President through the establishment of Sekolah Rakyat.
Based on this, Gus Ipul invited the attending regional leaders to support and collaborate in implementing the Sekolah Rakyat programme in their respective areas. This includes accelerating the construction and expansion of Sekolah Rakyat in line with the President’s target of one school per district/city. “This, ladies and gentlemen whom I respect, is one important thing that we can follow up together. I believe that the Governors, Regents, and Mayors have a profound understanding of the objective conditions of their communities,” he said.
In addition to collaboration on Sekolah Rakyat, Gus Ipul also stressed the importance of the regional government’s role in updating the National Socio-Economic Data (DTSEN) to make the data more accurate so that social assistance is precisely targeted. He explained that DTSEN is managed by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), while the Ministry of Social Affairs and regional governments are tasked with updating the data. Updates are carried out through two channels: a formal channel via the SIKS-NG application operated by village/sub-district operators and social services, and a participatory channel through the Cek Bansos application, ground checks by facilitators, call centres, and WhatsApp centres.
“I want to take this opportunity to say that we are the ones who update the data and depend on it. If our data from the grassroots is good, then the data at the top will also be good. If the data from the grassroots is a bit messy, then there will be significant bias at the top,” he said. On this occasion, Papua Governor Mathius Derek Fakhiri expressed his appreciation to President Prabowo for initiating the Sekolah Rakyat programme. He committed to continuing to encourage district/city governments in Papua to make the programme a success. For information, permanent Sekolah Rakyat buildings are currently under construction in three locations in Papua Province: Biak Numfor Regency, Jayapura, and Sarmi. “The President’s programme through Sekolah Rakyat helps the Papua Provincial Government to encourage all Papuan children to receive a proper education. Of course, we will oversee this programme so that construction can begin in 2026-2027, and perhaps continue at several other points thereafter,” said Mathius.