Social Affairs Ministry and ITB Visi Nusantara Synergise to Strengthen Village Empowerment and Sekolah Rakyat Graduates
The Ministry of Social Affairs is opening opportunities for collaboration with the Visi Nusantara Institute of Technology and Business (ITB) in Bogor to strengthen community empowerment in villages and expand access to education for graduates of Sekolah Rakyat (People’s Schools). The matter was discussed during an audience between Deputy Minister of Social Affairs Agus Jabo Priyono and the ITB Visi Nusantara Digital Community Development and Empowerment Institute at the Ministry of Social Affairs office in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, 24 June 2026.
Ketua Yayasan Visi Nusantara Yusfitriadi stated that the institution is building synergies with parties directly engaged with grassroots issues, including the Ministry of Social Affairs, which creates various community-level programmes. He noted that the university is currently developing an educational ecosystem directly linked to the needs of village communities.
Rector of ITB Visi Nusantara Bogor Daniel Zuchron explained that the campus is preparing a village-based curriculum aimed at producing graduates capable of returning to develop their home regions. The institution, which is five years old, is committed to contributing to community development through village-based education and is preparing a programme to place one graduate in every village across Bogor Regency, covering 416 villages.
Head of LP2MD ITB Visi Nusantara Bogor Tino Rahardian emphasised that education must be liberating, freeing people from poverty and ignorance. He expressed the institution’s desire to contribute to Sekolah Rakyat, whether through lecturers assisting students or by accommodating Sekolah Rakyat graduates who wish to pursue higher education at the university.
Deputy Minister Agus Jabo outlined the ministry’s three main mandates: updating the National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN), ensuring targeted social assistance distribution, and organising Sekolah Rakyat to break the intergenerational poverty chain. He stressed that President Prabowo’s priority programme aims to ensure that children do not inherit their parents’ poverty. Agus Jabo noted that relying solely on social assistance is insufficient, and the ministry is committed to shifting towards empowering productive poor communities to achieve independence and graduate from aid programmes.
He identified two immediate collaboration opportunities with ITB Visi Nusantara: community empowerment in high-poverty villages through the ministry’s Kampung Berdaya model, and providing higher education access for Sekolah Rakyat graduates. Agus Jabo added that the success of Sekolah Rakyat should not end at the high school level, and pathways to higher education must be ensured to sustainably break the poverty chain. He proposed a potential Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry and ITB Visi Nusantara to accommodate graduates, particularly in the Bogor area.
Director of Community Empowerment at the Ministry of Social Affairs Adrianus Alla stated that the collaboration model between universities, government, and the business sector is already being implemented in several regions. Universities provide community mentoring, while the ministry supports programme interventions and opens market access through business partners. He affirmed that social assistance is temporary, but empowerment lasts forever, with the hope that beneficiaries can exit aid programmes, allowing opportunities to be given to others in greater need. The audience concluded with a commitment to follow up on cooperation opportunities, particularly in developing village empowerment programmes, poverty alleviation, and educational support for Sekolah Rakyat graduates.