Witness States Chromebook Procurement Reaches 98 Percent at End of Nadiem's Tenure

JAKARTA - A witness in the trial over alleged corruption in the procurement of Chromebook laptops revealed that the utilisation of the devices had reached up to 98 percent in 2024.

Iwan Syahril, the former Director General of Early Childhood, Primary, and Secondary Education at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, presented data on the utilisation of Chromebooks for learning at the end of Nadiem Makarim’s tenure as minister.

From a target of around 38,863 schools funded by the state budget, 38,856 schools had met the usage criteria.

“This means only seven schools remain unfinished,” said Iwan Syahril during the trial at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court, Tuesday (14/4/2026).

Nevertheless, the witness acknowledged that several challenges still existed in the field.

“In total, there are still 21 primary schools that have not utilised them for learning, and we have identified those schools, which still haven’t. So, at that time, I asked the team to continue coordinating on what the remaining issues were so that we could reach 100 percent,” he explained.

However, according to the witness, the devices could still be used offline, for learning, assessments, and even virtual laboratory use.

“Chromebooks can be used without internet, for example, for assessments, learning, and even laboratory simulations,” he clarified.

To address these challenges, the government conducted tiered training for teachers, from basic levels to hands-on practice.

Training participants were also required to share experiences in learning communities to broaden the impact.

Additionally, monitoring was carried out continuously, not just for one year after procurement. The witness assessed that without ongoing support, the utilisation of technology in schools could potentially decline.

In the latest developments before the witness ended his term in January 2025, the number of schools not utilising the devices for learning had reduced to about 11 from over 7,000 monitored.

On the other hand, the witness also revealed a remaining budget of around Rp 113 billion in 2022 that was returned to the state treasury.