Unable to Build 'Sekolah Rakyat', Yogyakarta Mayor Aims to Expand Free School Access

The Yogyakarta municipal government is working to expand access to free education by increasing the number of free schools, particularly at the primary school (SD) level. This step serves as an alternative because the City of Yogyakarta has not yet been able to provide Sekolah Rakyat (People’s Schools) for underprivileged residents.

Yogyakarta Mayor Hasto Wardoyo said the policy direction aligns with the government’s efforts to ensure more children can receive an education without being burdened by school fees. “We want to provide as many free schools as possible. As Pak Prabowo has instructed, if a city cannot realise people’s schools, then ideally there should be many free schools,” Hasto said in a recent interview.

He revealed that the state of education in Yogyakarta shows a difference in public interest towards state schools. While state junior secondary schools (SMP) are always the first choice, the opposite is true at the state primary school level.

“State junior secondary school management is good and in high demand, which means state primary school management is less good and must be improved further,” he said.

Hasto sees improving the quality of state primary schools as homework that must be completed promptly. He asked teachers and headteachers to continue raising the quality of education so that state primary schools become more attractive to the public, both residents of Yogyakarta and those from outside the region.