Social Minister Inspects Construction of People's School in Semarang, Set to Accommodate 1,000 Students
The People’s School of Central Java Province 2 in Semarang is targeted to begin operations in June 2026. The school is prepared to accommodate around 1,000 students from underprivileged families. The construction process of the permanent building has now exceeded 30 percent.
This was stated by Social Minister (Mensos) Saifullah Yusuf (Gus Ipul) during his direct inspection of the construction of the permanent People’s School in Rowosari Village, Tembalang Subdistrict, Semarang City.
“The construction process is underway, with PT Adi Karya under the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (KemenPU) involved to meet the June target. Because in July, insyaallah, all students will be able to participate in the learning process,” said Gus Ipul in a written statement on Thursday (9/4/2026).
According to Gus Ipul, the construction of the permanent People’s School is part of President Prabowo’s national programme, currently underway at more than 100 locations across Indonesia. Each site is targeted to accommodate 1,000 students.
“This year, approximately (the People’s Schools have accommodated) 45,000 students, next year it will reach 100,000 students. By 2028, insyaallah, it will be more than 200,000 students,” explained Gus Ipul.
This programme represents a concrete step by the government to expand access to quality education, particularly for children from underprivileged families who have not been fully reached by development or The Invisible People.
“President wants those (underprivileged) families to have access to quality education,” said Gus Ipul.
The project is designed as a boarding school with complete facilities, from classrooms, laboratories, libraries, to facilities for developing students’ interests and talents.
The People’s School programme also involves cross-ministerial and institutional collaboration. The Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) is responsible for operations, while infrastructure development is supported by KemenPU, in collaboration with other ministries under the coordination of the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture.
In addition, the People’s School construction programme absorbs thousands of workers on a massive scale nationally.
“At present, there are 100 sites (under construction). This means no fewer than 60,000 workers today are jointly building the permanent People’s School buildings. This is something extraordinary, and we truly appreciate, respect, and honour President Prabowo for his extraordinary commitment,” stated Gus Ipul.
The Central Java 2 Semarang People’s School is built on a 65,000 square metre plot of land, with a building area of 27,372 square metres. This facility is designed to accommodate up to 1,080 students divided into 36 learning groups (rombel).
The composition includes 18 rombel for primary school level with a total of 540 students, and 9 rombel each for junior and senior high school levels, each accommodating 270 students.
Entering the 18th week of construction, the work progress is recorded at 30.307 percent of the planned target of 31.34 percent, with a deviation of minus 1.033 percent.
Present at the inspection were the Head of the Central Java Strategic Infrastructure Implementation Unit of KemenPU, Affi Triato; the Project Implementation Consultant for Strategic Infrastructure 2 of the Central Java Strategic Infrastructure Implementation Unit of KemenPU, Afifah Kemala Hafsari; the Head of the Central Java Social Services Office, Imam Maskur; the Head of the Semarang City Social Services Office, Agus Junaedi; Tembalang Subdistrict Head, Eko Agus; and Rowosari Village Head, Eko Pudjo.