Not Only MBG, President Prabowo Needs To Intervene To Fix The Decreased Education System

JAKARTA Education observer from JPPI, Ubaid Matraji assessed that President Prabowo Subianto needed to intervene to fix the failure of the national education system which could not be resolved through an instant approach, including sending problematic students to the military barracks.

"It must start from the president, because this educational problem cannot be submitted to the Ministry of Education alone," he said in a written statement, Sunday, May 11, 2025.

He revealed that the problem of the world of education in Indonesia is very complicated, because there is a dispute between ministries. For example, education in the country related to regional autonomy relations with the Ministry of Home Affairs, madrasas with the Ministry of Religion, planning with Bappenas, budget politics with the Ministry of Finance.

Ubaid said that the Free Nutrition Food (MBG) policy could run because there was a direct commitment from the president, even though it was not listed in the education roadmap. Therefore, educational reform must also receive similar priorities from the president.

"So including a large education budget that does not have an impact on education, yes, because the distribution of education budget cakes, while the president does not have enough political will for this education sector," he added.

He also emphasized that the discourse on sending problematic students to military barracks nationally is a form of despair for educational institutions in carrying out their roles.

"Why can teachers raise their hands? Why can schools raise their hands? I think teachers and schools have the wrong mindset," Ubaid said.

According to him, the task of education is to shape the character of children. Therefore, sending problematic students to military barracks seems to show that schools have given up in accompanying students with problems both psychologically, socially and academically and ultimately throwing responsibilities at other institutions.

Ubaid emphasized that improving education must be done systemically and thoroughly, starting from the highest political commitment. "Starting from the commitment of the president. I can imagine that with the improvement of our education system, it is like the president's commitment to MBG," he concluded.