JAKARTA: The revision to the education system law could pave the way for the multitrillion-rupiah free nutritious meal program to once again be financed through the education budget, teachers groups have warned, potentially reversing a court decision ruling out free meals as an education expense.
The revision to the education system law could pave the way for the multitrillion-rupiah free nutritious meal program to once again be financed through the education budget, teachers groups have warned, potentially reversing a court decision ruling out free meals as an education expense.
The Indonesian Teachers Association (P2G) raised concerns that the bill to revise National Education System (Sisdiknas) Law, initiated by the House of Representatives and currently under deliberation, contains vague provisions that could include health services as a core education aspect.
A provision in the draft bill dated July 8 says the government and society, when managing education, “provide health services, including those concerning mental health, at educational institutions in a manner that is integrated with the national health policies as well as the national education goals”.
“We strongly suspect that the article could be translated into applying health policies at educational institutions,” P2G national coordinator Satriwan Salim told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
“This means that the free meals program, as a manifestation of national health policy, could eventually become a core component of education.”
He said the provision could be open to multiple interpretations and warned of its potential implications if the bill is eventually passed without meaningful public participation.
The concerns came after the Constitutional Court ruled on July 30 that President Prabowo Subianto’s free meals program was not part of education and thus should not be financed through the education budget, in favour of petitions by teachers, lecturers, students and nonprofit organisations.
Under the Constitution, at least 20 percent of the annual state budget must be allocated to education. But this year, Rp 223 trillion (US$12.5 billion) of the Rp 769 trillion education budget was used to fund the free meals program, accounting for nearly one-third of mandatory education spending.
The court ordered the program be removed from the education post for the 2028 state budget, although it also suggested that the government adjust its spending for next year in line with the ruling.
Read also: Court ruling on free meals funding gets cautious welcome
Constitutional law expert Feri Amsari said the norms set by the ruling apply to all legislation and are not exclusive to the state budget law. This, he said, rendered any future law adjustments allowing the free meals program to use the education budget invalid.
“Under constitutional principles, it does not matter which law it is placed in, the program cannot be funded from the education budget again under any name or in any other form,” he said on Saturday.
The MBG Watch civil society coalition, which backs the petitioners, described the concern of possible legal manoeuvre as well-founded, and urged the House not to circumvent the ruling.
“Any attempt to maintain education funding for the free meals program through changes in budget nomenclature, budget engineering or regulatory adjustments would amount to a denial of the ruling,” Agus Sarwono of Transparency International Indonesia (TII), a coalition member, said on Saturday.
The concerns came amid previous instances of delays in implementing Constitutional Court rulings despite their binding nature, one of which was a December 2025 ruling banning active-duty police officers from holding additional government posts.
Read also: Court ruling shift focus back to schools, teacher welfare
Golkar Party lawmaker Hetifah Sjaifudian, who chairs House Commission X overseeing education and leading deliberation to amend the education system, said the bill itself “was not yet ready for publication” while the concerns had come to the commission’s attention.
“Every provision in the Sisdiknas bill will be drafted carefully so it does not leave room for multiple interpretations or conflict with the spirit of the Constitution,” Hetifah told the Post on Friday.
“We are committed to ensuring that the education budget is used fully to meet the education sector’s primary needs, particularly improving learning quality, teacher welfare and education service, and not to fund programs outside the main function of education.”
She said the commission welcomes public input and that the bill could still be changed throughout the deliberation process.
Mandatory education funding is among the key issues in the planned revision, with the House discussing provisions to explicitly regulate proper teacher salaries and allowances and strengthen student protection from violence. - Jakarta Post/ANN
