JAKARTA - The Constitutional Court (MK) has ruled that funding for the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program must be separated from the education budget. However, not a few observers consider this MK decision to be problematic.
The Constitutional Court granted a portion of the application in case 40/PUU-XXIV/2026 filed by the Nusantara Learning Garden Foundation along with a number of other applicants.
The Chairman of the Constitutional Court, Suhartoyo, read the verdict in the case, which stated, among other things, that the explanation of Article 22 paragraph (3) of Law No. 17 of 2025 concerning the State Budget (APBN) for 2026 was conditional.
"As long as it is understood, it only applies to the 2026 Budget Year State Budget, so that for the following years' State Budgets, the budget for nutritious meals that are not the main component of education is separated or does not become part of the operational budget for the implementation of education and the separation in question applies at the latest in the 2028 Budget Year State Budget or at the latest 2 years since the a quo decision was pronounced," said Suhartoyo in a trial at the Constitutional Court building, Thursday (30/7/2026).
However, this MK ruling has become a public spotlight. This is because in the next two years, the education budget still has the opportunity to be hijacked by the MBG program.
In the 2026 State Budget, the education budget was allocated at Rp769.1 trillion or around 20 percent of the State Budget. Of this figure, Rp223.6 trillion of which was channeled for the MBG program for school students.
MBG Does Not Enter the Core Function of EducationThe Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) emphasized that the ruling confirms that the MBG program is not a major component of education. Therefore, MBG funding must be separated and no longer be part of the operational budget for the provision of education.
But on the other hand, JPPI expressed disappointment that the Constitutional Court still gives room for the separation of the budget at the latest in the 2028 State Budget or two years after the ruling was pronounced.
"JPPI welcomes this decision because the Constitutional Court finally confirmed that MBG is not a major component of education. This is an important victory for the protection of education budgets. However, we are disappointed that the correction is not required immediately starting from the 2027 State Budget," said National Coordinator of JPPI Ubaid Matraji in a statement received by VOI.
According to JPPI, the MK's argument shows that the budget separation should have been carried out faster. The MK's decision confirms one of the applicants' arguments that MBG, although beneficial to children's health, is substantially a food, public health, and social protection program, so it does not fall within the core function of education.
"If the Constitutional Court itself admits that the 2027 State Budget can still be adjusted, why is the government given room to wait until 2028? If the error in the classification of its budget has been declared today, the correction must also be carried out as soon as possible, not delayed for two years," said Ubaid.
"Food programs cannot be changed into an education program just because the food is distributed in schools. The location of distribution does not determine the function of the budget," he continued.
Budget Piracy RiskThe ruling is also considered to ignore the reality that the Indonesian education world is still facing. In various regions, thousands of classrooms are in a state of severe damage and are almost collapsing, learning support facilities are limited, and the degree of welfare of honorary teachers is low.
The study of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS) in 2026 showed that around 49.5 percent of elementary school classrooms in Indonesia were slightly to moderately damaged, and 10.8 percent were severely damaged.
This is ironic, because at the same time the education budget is actually used inefficiently for the MGB program under the pretext of meeting children's nutrition. This fact is only the tip of the iceberg of how education in Indonesia needs to get serious attention and budget that is not touched.
The MBG Watch coalition emphasized that meeting children's nutrition is an important goal. However, this goal should not be achieved at the expense of other equally important constitutional rights, namely the right to quality education. The two are constitutional obligations that must be met simultaneously.
The separation of the MBG budget with the education budget which was newly implemented in the 2028 State Budget, allows the risk of the 2026 and 2027 State Budget education budget to be hijacked for MBG which has nothing to do with education.
This policy is considered to have usurped the people's constitutional rights and given the government excessive leeway to avoid its constitutional obligations.
The Gray AttitudeThe Constitutional Court is also considered to have chosen to take a position in the gray area in this case, by allowing the practice of transferring the function of education funds to finance the MBG program to continue for the next two years.
This attitude risks giving the interpretation that reducing the quality of education spending can be justified as long as it is wrapped in the name of the government's priority programs. This Constitutional Court decision actually makes the Constitution lose its function as a barrier to the arrogance of political policies. The fiscal space for education will be increasingly vulnerable to be sacrificed for the interests that change following the political cycle.
CELIOS legal researcher Muhammad Salah considers this Constitutional Court decision disappointing. The Constitutional Court chose to postpone constitutional recovery until 2028, even though the loss to the education sector occurs every day when education budgets are diverted to the MBG program.
In law, said Saleh, delayed justice is in essence justice that is not given. In the midst of various daily problems in the governance of the MBG program, including criminal acts of corruption that are currently the public's concern, the Constitutional Court should immediately apply constitutional protection, not give room for the validity of the disputed norms for another two years.
"This decision has the potential to legitimize the transfer of education budgets until it approaches the 2029 election and is a form of impunity for violations of the constitutional mandate regarding the allocation of education budgets of 20 percent," said Saleh.
"In this case, the Constitutional Court failed to carry out its role as a judicial protection of the rights of citizens," he said.
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