People’s Schools: Real Steps by the Government to Realize Equal Distribution of Superior Human Resources
By: Gavin Asadit )*
The Indonesian government has once again demonstrated its seriousness in realizing equal distribution of human resources (HR) quality through the launch of the Sekolah Rakyat program. This program is designed as a full boarding school targeting children from extremely poor families throughout the country. With a grand vision towards Indonesia Emas 2045, Sekolah Rakyat is an important milestone in creating the next generation of the nation that is superior, competitive, and has character, without being constrained by economic background.
Sekolah Rakyat is an implementation of President Prabowo Subianto’s direct instructions as outlined in Presidential Instruction No. 8/2025 as part of Asta Cita. This program not only provides formal education from elementary school to high school/vocational school for free, but also integrates a boarding school lifestyle that supports character building, discipline, and mental development of children from an early age. On an area of 5 to 8 hectares per location, this school is equipped with various modern facilities such as laboratories, sports facilities, multimedia classrooms, and technological devices such as iPads for each student.
The construction of Public Schools is carried out in a structured manner and involves cross-ministerial involvement. The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) has formed a Public School Task Force based on the Decree of the Minister of PUPR No. 446/KPTS/M/2025. This task force is responsible for designing, supervising, and evaluating physical development in 100 school locations until 2029. The Minister of PUPR, Dody Hanggodo, stated that the construction of this educational infrastructure is a real form of state support in ensuring that children from underprivileged families have learning facilities that are equivalent to superior schools in big cities.
The Ministry of Social Affairs as the main organizer is working closely with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek), as well as the Ministry of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform (KemenPAN-RB) and the State Civil Service Agency (BKN). This collaboration includes preparing the formation of ASN teachers and education personnel who will live and accompany students in the dormitory environment. Kemendikbudristek itself has prepared more than 4,500 graduates of the Teacher Professional Education (PPG) to be strictly selected as prospective teachers who will be placed in the People’s School. The teachers will live with the students and play a role not only as educators, but also as character builders and daily life guides.
The Ministry of Social Affairs has also designed a comprehensive selection system to recruit students from extremely poor families. The selection process begins with data verification from the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS) for deciles 1 and 2. After that, prospective students take a series of academic and psychological potential tests, interviews with parents, and health checks. The selection is carried out collaboratively by Family Hope Program (PKH) facilitators, village officials, and social services, so that it is right on target and fair. It is hoped that the selected students truly come from families who need the most state support in accessing quality education.
The program is targeted to start in July 2025, with 65 to 100 school locations operating in the initial phase. The locations are spread across Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, and Papua. Each school will accommodate up to 1,000 students, with a full boarding school scheme from morning to night. All student needs are covered by the state, from uniforms, stationery, housing, to daily consumption. This scheme is expected to be able to create an optimal, equal, and conducive learning environment for children from marginalized families.
As a key figure in this program, Deputy Minister of Social Affairs, Agus Jabo Priyono, appears as an inspiring figure who plays an important role in promoting the People’s School as a social transformation strategy. On several occasions, he emphasized that the People’s School is a real form of the state’s support for the poor. Agus Jabo also emphasized that this program will continue to be monitored so that it does not become an arena for data manipulation, and truly reaches children who have been marginalized from the national education system.
Furthermore, Agus said that the People’s School is proof that the state is fully present in building superior human resources. He invited all parties, both private and civil society organizations, to participate in overseeing and supporting the implementation of the program. In the long-term vision, the People’s School is not only a place to gain knowledge, but also an arena for character formation, fostering a spirit of nationalism, and spurring the achievements of the nation’s children who were previously untouched by educational services.
Previously, the Head of BBPPKS Region VI Maluku-Papua of the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) John H Mampioper stated that the People’s School Program is a social intervention to break the chain of poverty through integrated boarding-based education for elementary, middle and high school levels.
Overall, Sekolah Rakyat is a promising educational innovation in addressing the inequality of access and quality of education in Indonesia. With strong policy synergy, adequate APBN funding, and community support, this program is expected to become a model for empowering superior human resources that can be widely replicated. Equal education is no longer just a discourse, but a new reality that is being built with a spirit of partisanship and social justice.
The government through the People’s School is currently writing a new chapter in the history of national education development. If implemented consistently and closely monitored, this program has great potential to become the foundation of Indonesia’s social and economic transformation. Education, which used to be the privilege of a small portion of society, is now truly being made the right of every child of the nation without exception.
.
)* The author is an observer of social and community issues
