Witness Claims Former Education Minister Sought to Create Education Sector Dependency on Technology
A former member of the technical team analysing technological learning equipment requirements for Chromebook procurement, Stefani Nadia Purnama, has disclosed details of her meeting with former Education Minister Nadiem Makarim. Stefani stated that Makarim outlined a vision to transform the education sector through technological dependency.
Stefani provided this testimony whilst appearing as a witness in the alleged corruption case concerning Chromebook laptop and Chrome Device Management (CDM) procurement at the Central Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court on Friday, 13 March 2026. The defendants in the case are Mulyatsyah, Director of Junior Secondary Schools at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology in 2020; Sri Wahyuningsih, Director of Elementary Schools at the Directorate General of Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary Education for 2020-2021; and Ibrahim Arief, known as Ibam, a former consultant.
Stefani initially acknowledged having previously worked at PT Gojek Indonesia. She subsequently resigned and was called by Makarim to visit his apartment.
When questioned by prosecutors regarding her employment history, Stefani confirmed she had worked in Corporate Strategy at PT Gojek Indonesia beginning in 2019 before resigning and being invited by Makarim to meet at his Dharmawangsa apartment.
During questioning about the content of that meeting, Stefani confirmed that Makarim informed her he would be appointed as minister. Prosecutors then read from Stefani’s earlier statement regarding Makarim’s desire to implement educational reform that could not be reversed after his tenure ended through creating technological dependency, drawing an analogy to society’s reliance on ride-hailing applications.
“There was a vision that he presented, namely conducting educational reform that could not be reversed after his term ended, by creating dependency on technology. The analogy was similar to how society has become very dependent on the Gojek application. However, the detailed implementation was not explained at that time,” Stefani confirmed.
When pressed on whether Makarim intended to create technological dependency in education such that continued usage would persist even after his departure from office, Stefani affirmed this interpretation. Stefani also confirmed that Makarim subsequently requested her participation in a technology team to contribute to implementing this vision of change.
The prosecution had previously presented charges against Mulyatsyah, Sri and Ibam on Tuesday, 16 December 2025. Prosecutors alleged that the three defendants caused state financial losses totalling Rp 2.1 trillion in this case.
According to prosecutors’ calculations, the Rp 2.1 trillion in state losses comprised Rp 1.567 trillion from inflated Chromebook laptop pricing and USD 44.054 million (approximately Rp 621 billion) from unnecessary and ineffective CDM procurement.
Nadiem Makarim is also a defendant in this case and is being tried in separate proceedings.