Jakarta, 12 March 2025 – The presence of Sekolah Rakyat Programme is a real contribution in overcoming the problem of education equity in Indonesia. This programme provides access to free education for students from poor and extreme poor families.
Through Sekolah Rakyat, children receive comprehensive character education, so that they can actively participate in national development without ignoring noble values. The government, through the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA), has established a formal cooperation as stipulated in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday (11/3/2025).
Presidential Communications Office Spokesperson Ujang Komarudin said the MoU between the two institutions aims to expand access to education for the poor and extreme poor. ‘Sekolah Rakyat is designed to reach every layer of society living in poverty,’ he explained.
Meanwhile, the scope of work implementation contained in the MoU document includes cooperation in the implementation of social welfare services and development, exchange of data and information on beneficiaries, and development of human resource competencies in the education and social sectors.
The two ministries will collaborate in the formulation of strategic policies in the fields of social welfare, religion, education, and training, including training in religious teaching materials and character building for teachers and education personnel.
On that occasion, Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf revealed that Sekolah Rakyat was designed as a government effort to break the chain of poverty through free education. Meanwhile, Minister of Religious Affairs Nasaruddin Umar emphasised that madrasah and pesantren have long played a role in building the nation’s character and empowering the poor.
Based on the BPS report related to the 2024 People’s Welfare Indicators, the dropout rate in the 2023/2024 academic year was recorded to have increased at all levels. Then, as many as 74.51% of the heads of extreme poor households have elementary school education and below. Next, data from the Ministry of Education and Culture in January 2025 recorded that around 730,703 junior high school students graduated but did not continue their education to a higher level.
According to Ujang, the data above are a few facts that explain how poverty is closely related to low education. Poverty can have a multidimensional impact. Starting from low education, health, to children easily falling into the world of crime. Then, growing up in an unhealthy environment, triggering unemployment and social conflict.
Therefore, Sekolah Rakyat is expected to be an inclusive education model that can lift children from poor families out of the poverty cycle. This programme is also a strategic step in realising the vision of a Golden Indonesia 2045. ‘As the President has repeatedly said, Sekolah Rakyat will open the widest possible access for children from poor families to get a proper education,’ he said.
The Ministry of Social Affairs has prepared two models in the construction of People’s Schools. The first model is asset revitalisation, which uses representative existing assets from the Ministry of Social Affairs, local governments, universities, state-owned enterprises and the private sector. Limited renovations are carried out to complete school and dormitory facilities / infrastructure. The second model is new construction on 5 to 10 hectares of land owned by local governments, universities, state-owned enterprises and the private sector. New buildings include school towers, dormitory towers (boys and girls), office buildings and teacher housing. The new facilities are of national school standard, with green open spaces, sports facilities, clinics, places of worship and laboratories.
