Iming-iming Incentives Rp100 Thousand In MBG Program And Exploiting Honorary Teachers

JAKARTA Providing incentives to teachers in charge of the Free Nutrition Food (MBG) program is considered by many as a step off responsibility.

Circular (SE) from the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) regarding the provision of incentives for teachers in charge of the MBG program has received the attention of the wider community, especially among educators.

Head of the Advocacy Division of the Education and Teacher Association (P2G) Iman Zanatul Haeri said that the technical involvement of teachers in the distribution of MBG in schools not only interferes with the teaching and learning process, but also suspects that BGN has intervened against cases of poisoning that have recently occurred.

The National Coordinator of the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI), Ubaid Matraji, also criticized the government's policy of providing incentives of Rp. 100,000 per day for teachers in charge of MBG distribution. The provision of incentives, said Ubaid, did not touch the root of the problem in the MBG program, which has been considered problematic.

Presiden Prabowo Subianto menegaskan tetap akan melanjutkan program MBG, meski belakangan menjadi sorotan masyarakat luas karena-gara kasus korban yang terjadi.

JPPI records show that the number of victims of poisoning continues to rise, with the total number of victims until October 4 breaking 10,482 children. The number of victims of poisoning continues to grow even though BGN disabled several Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG) on Monday (29/9/2025). Ironically, only a small part of what is suspected of being directly involved in cases of MBG poisoning, while thousands of other kitchens are still operating.

In the week since the close, the number of poisoned victims rose by 1,833, higher than the average weekly victim during September, which reached 1,531 children per week.

"With this data, we can conclude, the closure of part of the SPPG is not at all effective. As long as the MBG kitchen is still operating, victims will continue to fall. Therefore, BGN must immediately stop all SPPGs in Indonesia before the number of victims increases," said Ubaid Matraji.

Instead of conducting a thorough evaluation, BGN even issued a new policy through the issuance of SE Number 5 of 2025 concerning Incentives for Teachers in Charge of the MBG Program at Beneficiary Schools.

As an appreciation for the additional duties and responsibilities in the MBG program, teachers will be given an incentive of IDR 100,000 per day, which will be disbursed every 19 days.

However, this has received criticism from a number of circles, especially educators.

Head of the Advocacy Division of P2G Teacher Iman Zanatul Haeri emphasized that managing MBG does not include the duties of teachers as regulated in the law.

Iman said, Article 35 of Law Number 14 of 2005 concerning Teachers and Lecturers called Teacher's Workload includes basic activities, namely planning learning, carrying out learning, assessing the results of learning, guiding and training students, assessing the results of learning, guiding and training students, and carrying out additional tasks such as being vice school principals, kokuricular coordinators, and laboratory heads.

"Before MBG, the workload of teachers was already a lot. By providing additional tasks, namely as the person in charge of MBG, of course this will come out of the main rail of teacher obligations," said Iman in a statement received by VOI.

Furthermore, according to Iman, the existence of this rule can be called a form of BGN's hands off against cases of MBG poisoning that have recently occurred.

"In our opinion, the issuance of this SE should be suspected by BGN trying to get out of the responsibility for the MBG poisoning phenomenon at school," said Iman.

With the lure of this incentive, it actually raises concerns that teachers will be used as scapegoats if there is poisoning because they are now in charge of the program's alias person in charge (PIC).

On the other hand, the provision of incentives of Rp. 100,000 per day creates another irony, considering that there are still many honorary teachers who get inappropriate salaries. According to Iman, with existing government budgets, it is not difficult to increase the salaries of honorary teachers.

"If BGN can provide 100,000 incentives per day for the teacher in charge of MBG, isn't it easy for the government to pay honorary teachers a month of 3 million rupiahs? Why is it even difficult to add to the teacher's nutrition?" said Iman.

The same thing was said by the National Coordinator of JPPI Ubaid Matraji. According to him, this policy is not proportional to the workload and risks borne by teachers.

"The incentive of Rp. 100,000 is a bitter bidder who lacks a dose for workloads and much greater risks," said Ubaid.

The provision of incentives, said Ubaid, did not touch the root of the problem in the MBG program, which had been seen as problematic, such as poor systems and governance, low quality, minimal security guarantees, and lack of transparency.

Furthermore, Ubaid also highlighted the potential for exploitation of honorary teachers. According to him, this policy can place honorary teachers in the most vulnerable positions because they are prioritized as the frontline in operations.

"Instead of providing solutions, this policy has the potential to exploit honorary teachers to bear the risk of a controversial program," he said.

For information, the circular consists of six points, including the assignment of PIC teachers to prioritize auxiliary teachers or honorary teachers which are carried out using a rotation system per day and regulated by the principal.