PDIP Questions MBG, Kalima: Don't Lead the Public with a False Narrative

JAKARTA - The controversy regarding the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program has once again become a public discussion after a number of PDI Perjuangan (PDI Perjuangan) politicians launched criticism. They assessed that the use of MBG funds sourced from the national education budget has the potential to reduce efforts to improve the quality of education.

In response to this, social and public policy observer from Kader Literasi Indonesia Maju (Kalima), Aiman Adnan, assessed that the opinion that was built was very misleading.

"It's better to give more support to the government to improve these programs so that they are more targeted. Not to make more criticism by spreading false information," said Aiman, Tuesday, March 3.

According to Aiman, the MBG program is actually an important foundation for the sustainability of education because the fulfillment of children's nutrition is the minimum requirement for the learning process to run effectively.

"If there are politicians who claim to care about education but are not willing to let children be full before studying, the public is naturally asking: what version of education are they defending?" said Aiman.

Aiman also highlighted the criticism that describes MBG as if it were a unilateral policy without adequate political processes. He emphasized that the program had gone through discussions and mutual approval between the government and the DPR.

"MBG was discussed, approved, and agreed upon in the DPR. And in the DPR it is included in the faction that is now the most aggressive," he said.

According to him, this attitude is difficult to explain in terms of ethics and political consistency. "If MBG is now said to be problematic, the question is simple: why did you agree? It's like signing a receipt, then shouting that you've been robbed," he said.

Regarding the allegation that MBG has eroded the education budget, Aiman said it was a simplification of a misleading issue. He emphasized that based on official state budget data, the allocation of education budget had not decreased.

"The education budget does not decrease, it actually increases. This is the fact of the state budget, not a tafsir," he said.

He added that the increase in salaries and allowances for teachers and lecturers in the latest state budget was a concrete indicator that the MBG narrative of usurping the right to education was unfounded.

"If the education budget is robbed by MBG, where did the increase in the budget of tens of trillions for teachers and lecturers come from? This is an official figure, a real figure," he said.

According to Aiman, the narrative was built by releasing one large figure - namely the MBG budget - without presenting the overall context of the national education budget structure.

"The numbers are released, the context is removed. The public is led by emotions, not invited to think," he said.

In the same controversy, the issue of teacher welfare is also often put forward as an excuse for rejecting MBG. However, Aiman considers that this argument is not entirely in line with the facts of the policy in place.

"He said he was defending teachers, but in fact teachers' allowances increased, honorarium teachers' incentives increased, school renovations were underway, and no education programs were stopped," he said.

He also questioned the claim that teachers were the party harmed by the implementation of MBG.

"Then where exactly are teachers sacrificed? Don't make teachers a shield for political maneuvering," he said.