UGM Students File Amicus Curiae with Constitutional Court in Free Nutritious Meal Programme Lawsuit
The UGM Student Alliance Node has submitted an amicus curiae, or ‘friend of the court’, document in a formal judicial review of the State Budget Law (APBN) challenging the use of the education budget to fund the free nutritious meal (MBG) programme.
The amicus curiae document was submitted to the Constitutional Court on Thursday, 9 July 2026. According to Alvino Kusumabrata, Coordinator of the UGM Student Alliance Node, the document requests that the Court grant all the petitions in Case Number 55/PUU-XXIV/2026, which specifically challenges Article 22 paragraph (3) of the 2026 State Budget Law.
The Student Alliance considers that Article 22 paragraph (3), along with its explanation, has legitimised the entry of MBG programme funding into the education budget line. As a result, funds that should be prioritised for core education functions are instead being used to finance a programme outside the conduct of national education.
Alvino stressed that using the education budget for MBG deviates from the constitutional mandate requiring the government to allocate at least 20 per cent of the state and regional budgets to the education sector. He views MBG as a political programme not directly related to the delivery of education.
“That is why the UGM Student Node is seeking, through this amicus curiae intervention, for the petitions filed by our friends in the civil coalition and by teachers to be accepted and granted by the honourable panel of judges,” Alvino said at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta on Thursday, 9 July 2026.
The amicus curiae document was prepared jointly by the Centre for Law and Social Justice Studies of the UGM Faculty of Law, the UGM Students’ Union, and the Justicia Student Council of the UGM Faculty of Law. Alvino said its preparation also received support and guidance from a number of lecturers at the UGM Faculty of Law.
Meshi, General Chairperson of the UGM Students’ Union, added that the use of the education budget for MBG has affected the higher education ecosystem. According to her, many universities, including UGM, are facing budget constraints amid cuts to education assistance.
At the same time, many prospective new students are struggling to pay their single tuition fees (UKT), while assistance quotas such as the Indonesia Smart Card for Higher Education (KIP Kuliah) have been reduced.
Under these conditions, campuses have frequently been targeted and pressured not to raise tuition fees while providing as much educational assistance as possible. Yet, according to Meshi, the root of the problem lies in the central government’s policy of diverting part of the education budget to fund the MBG programme.
On that basis, she considers a Constitutional Court ruling important so that similar practices do not recur in the drafting of the 2027 state budget. “We ask the judges to grant the judicial review so that the government no longer uses the education budget for MBG this year or in the years to come,” she said.
Case Number 55/PUU-XXIV/2026, which challenges the 2026 State Budget Law, was filed by Reza Sudrajat, an honorary teacher from Karawang, West Java. He claims to have been harmed by the policy of incorporating MBG programme funding into the education budget.
Article 22 paragraph (3) of the 2026 State Budget Law, which is being challenged, sets the education budget at more than Rp 769 trillion, or 20 per cent of the total state budget. However, in the article’s explanation, the government has included part of the education budget to fund the MBG programme.
Under Presidential Regulation Number 188 of 2025, some Rp 223 trillion of the total education budget has been allocated to the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) as the main implementing body of the MBG programme.
In his petition, Reza asks the Constitutional Court to declare Article 22 paragraph (3), along with its explanation, contrary to the 1945 Constitution. He also asks the Court to declare that the education budget cannot be used to fund the MBG programme.