Nadiem: Tanoto And Putera Sampoerna Don't Use APBN In POP

Minister of Education and Culture Nadiem Makarim (Photo: Diah Ayu Wardani / VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Education and Culture (Mendikbud) Nadiem Makarim emphasized that the Tanoto Foundation and the Putera Sampoerna Foundation would not use the APBN in implementing the Organizing Organizational Program (POP).

Nadiem said that the two participants of the organization would independently fund POP activities. Both of them will not receive the state budget.

"The Ministry of Education and Culture has agreed with the Tanoto Foundation and Putera Sampoerna that their participation in the Ministry of Education and Culture program will not use a penny of funds from the State Budget," said Nadiem in a statement on the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture's Youtube account, Tuesday, July 28.

Nadiem admitted that this decision was based on the results of further evaluation after drawing protests from a number of parties. Reportedly, the Ministry of Education and Culture will disburse APBN funds to CSR agencies deemed unfit for receiving the budget.

Nadiem said that the intention from the start was to partner with educational activists and find innovations that the government could learn from, and apply on a national scale.

"Our karapan, this will answer public concerns about potential conflicts of interest and the issue of the feasibility of grants that can now be transferred to organizations that are more in need," he said.

As is well known, the Movement Organization Program was launched as part of the Fourth Episode Merdeka Belajar policy on March 10, 2020. The program is designed to encourage the creation of activating schools by empowering the community through government support.

This is done by improving the quality of teachers and principals based on training models that can effectively improve the quality of the learning process and student learning outcomes.

Then, this POP polemic emerged when Commission X DPR RI Syaiful Huda (PKB) assessed that there were irregularities in some of the 156 educational institutions and mass organizations that would later receive Ministry of Education and Culture grants from the State Budget.

He considered that a number of large companies such as the Putera Sampoerna Foundation and the Bhakti Tanoto Foundation also received the funds.

Member of Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR) Ferdiansyah (Golkar Party) also questioned the track record of social organizations (mass organizations) that passed the POP selection. This question also motivated Muhammadiyah and LP Ma'arif NU to resign from the Movement Organization.