Speaker Puan urges government to evaluate schools facing student shortages

House Speaker Puan Maharani has urged the government, through relevant ministries, to evaluate and reorganise educational services following reports of numerous schools facing student shortages in various regions. Speaking in Jakarta on Wednesday, Puan stated that the government must first map out the causes of this phenomenon before determining appropriate measures, ensuring that policies align with conditions on the ground. “We need to ascertain whether this is a widespread national trend or merely a case-by-case occurrence in certain areas. Identifying the problem is necessary so that the handling matches what is actually happening,” she said. According to Puan, the phenomenon of schools lacking pupils could be influenced by various factors, such as a decline in the number of school-age children, population migration, a distribution of schools that no longer matches residential development, and a decrease in public trust in the quality of state school services. She encouraged the government to immediately compile a national map of educational unit needs based on villages and sub-districts, integrating data on the number of school-age children, birth trends, residential development, school capacity, travel distances, geographical conditions, and population projections for at least the next 10 years. She argued that this map should serve as the basis for determining which schools need revitalisation, which should be developed into reference schools, which should be merged, or which must be maintained due to their strategic role in providing public access to education. “Efficiency policies must not sacrifice children’s rights. If school mergers are deemed the best option, the government must first ensure the availability of safe school transport,” she said. Meanwhile, in Sleman Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, around 60 schools still experienced a shortage of new students by the end of the New Student Admission System (SPMB) period.