Social Affairs Minister to Meet KPK Leadership to Consult on Procurement in People's School Programme

This step is taken as a form of the Ministry of Social Affairs’ openness to oversight of budget usage, while also ensuring that the procurement of goods and services within the ministry, including the People’s School programme, proceeds in accordance with regulations.

“We, along with the Deputy Minister and Secretary General, will pay a courtesy visit to the KPK to seek advice, input, and also to provide information about the procurement processes within the Ministry of Social Affairs,” said Gus Ipul in a written statement on Thursday (7/5/2026).

This was stated by him at a press conference at the Ministry of Social Affairs office in Jakarta today.

In response to the issue of People’s School shoe procurement that has recently gone viral on social media, Gus Ipul has also formed a special team to delve deeper and investigate to obtain more complete information.

“I have appointed the Deputy Minister and Inspector General to conduct the investigation, deepening, and report it next week. So that we can get a clearer and more complete picture of the issues that have been circulating on social media,” he explained.

Gus Ipul explained that his side is open and welcomes all criticism and suggestions from the public. All criticisms and suggestions will be considered, and if follow-up action is needed, it will be taken, one of which relates to the procurement process in the People’s School.

“All shoes are certainly for People’s School students, all uniforms are certainly for People’s School students, and there are also those for teachers. But all of that is done through a transparent process via the proper tender process; however, because there may be matters that need further explanation, once again, I ask the Deputy Minister and Inspector General to delve into this issue and report it next week,” he clarified.

Previously, Gus Ipul emphasised that the issue of markup in the price of People’s School student shoes is a hoax and a twisting of facts to create a negative narrative.

At a press conference held some time ago, Gus Ipul showed a snippet of the narrative along with a photo containing an image of himself and East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa giving shoes to People’s School students. The photo is a snippet of documentation from an event in Malang on 2 May 2025.

Meanwhile, the shoes given were a gift from Governor Khofifah to 10 People’s School students sourced from the East Java Provincial Government’s APBD, not from the Ministry of Social Affairs procurement.

“Thus, comparing one photo of a certain branded shoe circulating on social media with the overall procurement of shoes for People’s School students is inappropriate, because each type of shoe has different functions, specifications, and prices,” he concluded.