There are Sports Facilities, Lhokseumawe People's School Ready to Operate
Lhokseumawe - The city of Lhokseumawe in Aceh Province, now has an integrated People's School (SR) that serves education ranging from elementary school (SD), middle school (SMP) to high school (SMA).
The school, which was built on an area of about 8.4 hectares, is also equipped with dormitories and various sports facilities to support the learning process of students.
Minister of Public Works (PU) Dody Hanggodo ensures that the People's School is ready to be functional and used for the School Environment Introduction Period (MPLS) of the 2026/2027 Academic Year.
"This People's School is ready to be used, even though there are some buildings in the back that are not ready, but in general it can be functional," said Dody as quoted from a written statement, Saturday, August 1.
According to Dody, the construction of the People's School is part of President Prabowo Subianto's program to expand access to quality education for children from pre-prosperous families without charge.
He emphasized that the school was designed with facilities equivalent to a flagship private boarding school.
In addition to the study room, students will get a place to stay in the dormitory, personal equipment, and learning support based on technology in the form of laptops.
"This People's School is not to compete with other schools, but to complement our younger siblings who are not allowed to enter regular schools due to limited costs because it is all free," he said.
The Lhokseumawe People's School area has an area of about 8.4 hectares with a total building area of 26,376 square meters.
The education complex is designed as an integrated area that includes elementary, middle and high school levels.
The facilities available are not only classrooms and dormitories, but also sports facilities such as basketball courts and mini soccer fields as well as various other supporting facilities to support teaching and learning activities and character development of students.
The construction of the Lhokseumawe People's School was carried out by the Aceh Strategic Infrastructure Implementation Task Force with the operation cooperation contractor (KSO) PT Pembangunan Perumahan (Persero) Tbk and PT Wijaya Karya (Persero) Tbk.
The project is funded through the State Budget (APBN) for the 2025-2026 Fiscal Year (TA) with a value of IDR 262.3 billion.
Overall, as of July 2026, the PU Ministry has built five units of People's Schools in Aceh Province.
The number will continue to increase in line with President Prabowo Subianto's direction that every district and city has at least one People's School.
"There are five total People's Schools in Aceh Province. But, later it will continue to increase according to the President's instructions, one district one People's School," said Dody.
The People's School program is one of the government's strategies to improve the quality of human resources while reducing extreme poverty through the provision of free quality education for children from poor families.
The government considers education to be the most effective way to break the intergenerational chain of poverty.