Central Java Provincial Government Starts Preparing People's School Land

SEMARANG - The Central Java Provincial Government is preparing and identifying land and buildings that can be used for the People's School program initiated by President Prabowo Subianto.

"The main target of the People's School is prospective students who come from extreme poor families or families who are prone to poverty. This school will be free," said Central Java Governor Ahmad Luthfi in Semarang, Wednesday, March 12, as reported by ANTARA.

This was conveyed after a coordination meeting and socialization of the establishment of the People's School at the Central Java Governor's Office complex, Semarang.

According to him, the identified land does not have to be owned by the Central Java Provincial Government, but can also be from the district/city government.

It is planned that the construction of schools and revitalization of buildings for schools will be carried out in 2025, with funding coming from the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN).

According to him, preparing land to build schools is not easy, because the area of land that must be prepared as determined by the Ministry of Social Affairs is 5-10 hectares.

What is clear, said Luthfi, is that the Central Java Provincial Government fully supports the program because until now there are still many residents who have dropped out of school.

In fact, said Luthfi, there are still many school buildings in Central Java that need repairs.

Therefore, the existence of the People's School will play a major role in cutting the poverty chain in Central Java through the education sector, along with the poverty rate in Central Java which is still 9.58 percent.

Meanwhile, Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf said that the People's School program will start running in the 2025/2026 school year.

The initial stage will start from assets belonging to the Ministry of Social Affairs as school locations in four cities, namely Pati, Magelang, Temanggung, and Surakarta Regencies.

People's schools implement a boarding school (asrama) system, with a curriculum that is used as well as superior schools, but the emphasis is character education.

Regarding the land provided by the provincial government and district/city governments, he has not been able to say his status in the future because the provisions are still waiting for the finalization.

"In the next week, it will be known how many of Central Java are ready. It could be in the form of revitalized buildings or land. We are waiting for the proposal until March 21, 2025," said the figure who is familiarly called Gus Ipul.