Government Claims MBG and Digital Boards Increase Student Learning Motivation

JAKARTA - The government claims that the Free Nutritional Meal (MBG) Program and the use of interactive digital boards or Interactive Flat Panels (IFP) in schools have had a positive impact on student learning motivation, class attendance rates, and academic achievement.

The Minister of Basic and Secondary Education (Mendikdasmen) Abdul Mu'ti said the findings were based on a number of studies conducted by various institutions, including the University of Indonesia (UI), related to the implementation of the MBG program and the utilization of learning technology in schools.

"There have been studies from UI and other institutions that show the positive impact of MBG on increasing learning motivation, attendance at school, and academic achievement," said Abdul Mu'ti after attending a meeting with President Prabowo Subianto at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Thursday, June 11.

According to Mu'ti, in addition to meeting the nutritional needs of students, the MBG program is also used as part of strengthening character education which has been integrated into various learning modules.

He explained that as of June 10, 2026, the MBG program had reached around 80.7 percent of students in Indonesia. Of the total more than 53 million students, around 43 million students are said to have received the benefits of the program.

"Of the 53 million students, 43 million have received MBG and they have stated that MBG will continue because the impact is very positive both in relation to the level of attendance at school and in relation to learning motivation and academic achievement," he said.

In addition to MBG, the government also highlighted the positive impact of the use of interactive digital boards or *Interactive Flat Panel* (IFP) which has been distributed to schools in various regions.

Abdul Mu'ti said that by 2025 the government had distributed 288,865 IFP units to educational units throughout Indonesia as part of the transformation of technology-based learning.

According to him, the results of the research that has been carried out show that the use of this device is able to improve the quality of learning as well as encourage the learning motivation of students.

"In 2025, we distributed 288,865 IFPs to educational units throughout Indonesia. Now it is being used and there have been studies that show the impact of IFPs on the quality of learning and also on learning motivation," he said.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State Secretary (Mensesneg) Prasetyo Hadi said President Prabowo Subianto gave special attention to the education sector as one of the national development priorities.

According to Prasetyo, the meeting which lasted more than two hours discussed various aspects of education, ranging from improving school infrastructure, improving the quality of teachers, to developing learning materials that are relevant to the development of time.

"I just want to underline that the discussion of almost two hours is really the government and the President is very concerned about the problem of education, both regarding its infrastructure, then the improvement of teachers," said Prasetyo.

He added that the President also asked for the formation of a special team to review and update textbooks to match the development of science and technology.

"He was given the task of immediately forming a team to study textbooks or textbooks for all of our students that must be adjusted to the development of time, the development of technology that we do not want to lose to textbooks from outside," he said.