Social Affairs Minister Gus Ipul Targets 97 People's Schools to Operate by July 2026

Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf, known as Gus Ipul, has targeted 97 permanent buildings for People’s Schools in various regions to begin operations in July 2026. These People’s Schools are being constructed to broaden educational access for children from impoverished and vulnerable families throughout Indonesia. “At 97 locations, the Ministry of Public Works is currently building the People’s School structures,” said Gus Ipul during an inspection of the People’s School construction in Kedung Cowek, Surabaya, East Java, as reported by ANTARA on Sunday, 3 May 2026. Gus Ipul explained that out of the dozens of construction sites, 67 locations are targeted to be completed on schedule, while the remainder can still be utilised for teaching and learning activities. According to him, the permanent People’s School buildings are designed to accommodate approximately 1,000 students at the primary school (SD), junior secondary (SMP), and senior secondary (SMA) levels. The prepared facilities include dormitories, libraries, laboratories, School Health Units (UKS), and amenities for extracurricular activities. “This building will be able to house 1,000 SD, SMP, and SMA students, equipped with library facilities, dormitories, laboratories, UKS, and other extracurricular facilities,” he stated. Gus Ipul said the People’s School Programme is an instruction from President Prabowo Subianto to assist children from underprivileged families, including those who have dropped out of school or are at risk of doing so. He emphasised that the programme does not open general registrations but instead uses a direct outreach system to priority prospective students. “People’s Schools do not open registrations; we reach out,” said Gus Ipul. According to him, the government targets every regency and city to have at least one permanent People’s School building as part of the national poverty alleviation strategy. “If there were, say, 500 permanent People’s School buildings, their capacity would exceed 500,000 students. This is part of poverty alleviation,” he said. He added that the Surabaya City Government has been deemed successful in supporting the acceleration of construction by providing land that meets the requirements for building permanent People’s Schools.