Kompas Research and Development Survey: Public Welcomes People's Schools

The People's School initiated by President Prabowo Subianto is good news for the world of education this year.

The government is committed to establishing Sekolah Rakyat, which is an educational program with the concept of a free boarding school aimed at children from underprivileged families. In addition to providing dormitories, this school also offers books, uniforms, school supplies, as well as free meals and drinks.

The government aims to complete at least 53 People's Schools by June 2025, allowing them to operate in the 2025/2026 academic year. A total of 200 People's Schools will be constructed in 2025.

The People's School Program is a collaboration between several ministries with the Ministry of Social Affairs as the responsible party, with funding sourced not only from the state budget but also allowing space for private entities to collaborate.

This is in line with the theme raised during the commemoration of National Education Day (Hardiknas) 2025, which is "Universal Participation Realizes Quality Education for All." This theme invites and serves as a momentum for all elements of the nation to collaborate in improving and enhancing the quality of education in Indonesia.

Unfortunately, the program with the noble intention of providing equitable educational access for poor and extremely poor communities, combating ignorance, and addressing poverty is not widely known to the public. This is reflected in the results of a survey conducted through face-to-face interviews organized by Litbang Kompas from April 7 to 12, 2025, across 38 provinces.

Three-quarters of the 1,200 respondents admitted to being unaware of this program, with 43 percent of them only learning about it during the interview. Meanwhile, one-fifth of the respondents claimed to know about the program but only had heard of it in passing, while only about eight percent of the respondents were aware of and even followed its updates. Undoubtedly, socialization efforts need to be intensified.

Nevertheless, the public has expressed positive appreciation and support for the program, which is part of the government's broader strategy to enhance the quality of human resources and achieve the Indonesia Gold 2045 target.

Survey results indicate that the majority of respondents (94.4 percent) agree with this People's School program, with 28 percent of them strongly expressing their agreement.

Public appreciation and support will certainly serve as a motivation for the government to expedite the implementation of programs that provide opportunities for children from impoverished families to achieve a better future.

The People's School will be opened for elementary, junior high, and senior high school levels in districts, cities, or provinces. The criteria for its students are those from families in the 1st and 2nd deciles based on the national socioeconomic single data (DTSEN) integrated with the basic education data (dapodik).

Decile 1 refers to households in the lowest 10 percent of welfare levels nationally, while decile 2 refers to the lowest 11–20 percent group. They are the groups of extremely poor, poor, and vulnerable populations.

Community schools also implement age requirements, namely 7-9 years for elementary school, 13-15 years for junior high school, and 16-21 years for senior high school.

Students at the People's School will receive formal education in accordance with the national curriculum, supplemented by character education, such as leadership, vocational skills, nationalism, and religious education.

The People's School will later implement a multi-entry, multi-exit system. This means that students do not have to enter in the same school year, they can enter at any time according to their readiness. The curriculum is designed to be more flexible, allowing them to learn according to their ability level and previous educational background.

Based on the demographics of the respondents, the People's School program received support from respondents across all island clusters, in all age categories, both in urban and rural areas.

The People's School, which will be launched by the government next July, is in line with the vision of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, which is "Quality Education for All."

This means that the Ministry is committed to providing quality education that is equitable and accessible to all citizens of Indonesia, as mandated by the 1945 Constitution and Law Number 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System, which guarantees the right of every citizen to receive quality education.

This vision is also in line with President Prabowo's directive to make education a primary pillar in building a strong, advanced, and sovereign Indonesia. In the long term, the People's School becomes a strategic solution to break the cycle of poverty through education.

With a curriculum that combines academics and vocational skills, the People's School is expected to prepare a generation capable of competing in the workforce and breaking the cycle of poverty sustainably.

The People's School is also expected to be a solution to the problem of school dropouts. Moreover, based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the dropout rates at the elementary, junior high, and vocational school levels for the 2023/2024 academic year have increased compared to the previous year.

Only the high school level saw a slight decline. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) also released data, based on the 2021 National Economic Survey (Susenas), indicating that 76 percent of families acknowledged that their children dropped out of school due to economic reasons.

Therefore, the People's School is also intended for children who have dropped out of school or are at risk of dropping out, particularly those in the final stages of education, namely grade VI of elementary school and grade IX of junior high school.

The results of the Kompas survey captured high levels of public confidence (more than 75 percent) that the People's School program will succeed in achieving its goals.

The People's School is also believed to equalize access to quality education (82.2 percent), serve as a solution to address the issue of school dropouts (83.9 percent), and provide a solution to alleviate poverty (76.6 percent).

This high level of confidence is reflected in the responses from all socioeconomic groups, ranging from the lower class, lower middle class, upper middle class, to the upper class.

Public support and confidence can serve as capital for the government to build a foundation of education that is equitable, inclusive, and of high quality as the best form of investment for the future.

The commemoration of National Education Day on May 2, 2025 is a moment of shared reflection on the importance of education in building a nation.

(Kompas Research and Development)