Attorney General's Office Investigates Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology's Chromebook Procurement 2019-2022, Minister's Special Staff's House Raided

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - The Attorney General's Office has initiated an investigation into the alleged corruption case at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, or Kemendikbudristek, regarding the procurement of the Education Digitalization Program for the years 2019-2022, with a total budget reaching Rp 9.9 trillion. Two residences of the special staff of the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology were also searched by investigators.

The Head of the Legal Information Center of the Attorney General's Office, Harli Siregar, in a written statement in Jakarta, Monday (26/5/2025), stated that investigators from the Attorney General's Office for Special Crimes have commenced the investigation into the case since May 20, 2025. The investigation is based on the Investigation Order from the Director of Investigation of the Attorney General's Office for Special Crimes Number: PRIN-38/F.2/Fd.2/05/2025.

"On May 21, the investigators, after elevating the status of the case to an investigation, conducted search and seizure efforts at least in two locations," said Harli.

The first location is the Kuningan Place Apartment, Floor 12 B9 in South Jakarta, which is the residence of FH, Special Staff to the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. The second location is the Ciputra World 2 Orchard Tower Apartment in South Jakarta, which is the residence of JT, another Special Staff to the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology.

From the search at FH's residence, investigators seized electronic evidence consisting of one laptop and four mobile phones. Meanwhile, at JT's residence, investigators confiscated electronic evidence including two external hard drives, one removable disk, and one laptop. In addition, investigators seized 15 agenda books.

"This confiscation, these confiscated items will of course be opened, read, analyzed in relation to this criminal incident," said Harli.

In 2020, the Ministry of Education and Culture planned to procure assistance in information and communication technology (ICT) equipment for primary, secondary, and higher education institutions for the implementation of the Minimum Competency Assessment (AKM).

Based on the experience of the trial procurement of 1,000 units of Chromebooks by Pustekom Kemendikbudristek previously, namely in 2018-2019, various obstacles have been identified, including the inability to use them without an internet connection. Meanwhile, the condition of internet connectivity in Indonesia is still uneven. It was then concluded that the use of Chromebooks as a means for the implementation of AKM is not effective.

From that experience and based on comparisons with several other operating systems (OS), the Technical Planning Team for the Study of ICT Equipment Procurement in its first study (White Paper) recommends using the Windows operating system.

However, instead of complying, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology at that time replaced the First Study with a new study using the specifications of the Chrome operating system or Chromebook.

According to Harli, based on witness statements and other pieces of evidence, there was an indication of collusion or conspiracy by directing the new technical team to prioritize laptops with the Chromebook operating system in the Technical Study for the Procurement of ICT Equipment. Consequently, when the procurement of goods and services was carried out, the chosen items would be laptops with the Chromebook operating system, rather than based on actual needs.

"Because actually using Chromebooks is not very appropriate," said Harli.

In the 2020-2022 fiscal year, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology allocated IDR 3.5 trillion and Special Allocation Funds (DAK) amounting to IDR 6.3 trillion, bringing the total to IDR 9.9 trillion. Until now, investigators are still examining the details, including those related to the internet provision program for students during the Covid pandemic that occurred in 2020-2022.

"We will check the nomenclature to see if it is the same or not because if we look at this, it is related to the digitalization of education. In the future, investigators will continue to strive to conduct this investigation to clarify the alleged criminal acts," he stated.

In addition to the Attorney General's Office, the Chromebook procurement program is also being handled by several regional prosecutors' offices.

As in Lampung, the Lampung High Prosecutor's Office has transferred the handling of the report regarding the alleged corruption in the procurement project of 2,100 units of Chromebook laptops to the Central Lampung District Attorney's Office. The report originated from a community group concerning the procurement of Chromebook laptops at the Education and Culture Office of Central Lampung Regency, amounting to IDR 17.4 billion.

In West Nusa Tenggara, the East Lombok District Attorney's Office is investigating a case of alleged corruption in the procurement of information and communication technology equipment at the East Lombok Education and Culture Office.

It is suspected that there has been corruption in the procurement of goods that does not comply with the provisions of the Minister of Education and Culture Regulation Number 3 of 2022 concerning the Operational Guidelines for the Special Allocation Fund for Physical Education in the 2022 Fiscal Year. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is also reported to follow up on the report regarding the alleged corruption in the procurement of Chromebook laptops that has been submitted to the KPK.

Previously, the Director General of Vocational Education at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Wikan Sakarinto, stated that in 2021, the ministry allocated a budget of approximately Rp 3.7 trillion for the procurement of information and communication technology (ICT) devices. Of this amount, the largest portion was allocated for Chromebooks, which are domestically produced.