Social Affairs Minister Gus Ipul Emphasises that Every Village Must Have a Data Operator

Gus Ipul has emphasised the active role of data operators, village apparatus, and field officers as key to perfecting the DTSEN system, ensuring that state interventions are precisely targeted. “So, the data we receive comes from the bottom up; we do not want any Village Head, Regent, or Mayor to be unaware of that data. Every data submission goes through official channels with participation,” said Gus Ipul in a written statement on Thursday (30/4/2026). He conveyed this while receiving an audience from the Regent of Deli Serdang, Asri Ludin Tambunan, and the Deputy Regent of Sampang, Ahmad Mahfudz, at the Ministry of Social Affairs office on Wednesday (29/4/2026). Gus Ipul also urged regional heads to continuously update data, as it is dynamic in nature. The updated data will be managed by the Central Statistics Agency, no longer by the Ministry of Social Affairs. “So, there will be no tampering with the data first,” said Gus Ipul. In addition to updating DTSEN, Gus Ipul also asked regional heads to be active in reaching out to new students for the People’s School in their respective areas. “I ask you to play a role in reaching out to People’s School students,” he stated. The outreach for People’s School students begins with those recorded in deciles 1-2 of DTSEN. Then, the data is verified in the field by PKH companions, BPS, and local government through dialogues of agreement with parents or guardians of prospective students. Next, the final stage is determination by the regional head as prospective People’s School students. On that occasion, Gus Ipul also explained the multi-entry multi-exit system for People’s School students. In this system, every prospective student also receives an assessment first before entering school to determine the appropriate level and class grade according to their abilities, so that some children can directly enter grade 6 of primary school, grade 3 of junior high school, and grade 3 of senior high school. “We assess first according to their respective abilities,” he explained. Gus Ipul also revealed that this year there are 453 first-time graduates of People’s School students, consisting of 329 primary school students, 113 junior high school students, and 11 senior high school students. Meanwhile, regarding the construction of permanent People’s Schools in Sampang and Deli Serdang, it is currently under construction. This construction is targeted to be completed and ready to operate in June 2026.