Kenneth Yeung ponders whether big spending on free meals is the solution to Indonesia’s education challenges.
“The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation.”
The above quotation, falsely attributed to Adolf Hitler, is partly invented. But it holds a certain truth: policies undertaken to benefit children usually enjoy strong public backing, even if they increase state debt, lack transparency, and divert funds from core education spending.
In Indonesia, support is strong for the Free Nutritious Meal (Makan Bergizi Gratis — MBG) programme, launched in January 2025, which provides free lunches to tens of millions of children, regardless of their socioeconomic situation. However, critics claim MBG will this year consume one-third of the national education budget and should instead target the nation’s poorest households. Concerns have also been raised over recent cases of children committing suicide due to insufficient funds for school costs.
Suicides Despite ‘Free’ Education
Article 31 of the Indonesian Constitution states that: “Every citizen shall undertake basic education, and the government shall provide such funding.” Consequently, education is officially free for elementary and junior high school students, although most families still have to pay for uniforms, books and supplies, transport, extracurricular activities, enrolment fees, and “contributions”.
Such costs can be unaffordable for low-income families. UNICEF recently warned that 11.8% of Indonesian children live below the poverty line, while almost 59% are vulnerable to falling into poverty, and nearly 40% aged 5-6 do not attend early childhood education.
One of the worst impacts of poverty is malnutrition, which the government is seeking to combat through MBG and other forms of social assistance. Unfortunately, the support doesn’t always reach those most in need.
In late January 2026, Indonesian media reported that a 10-year-old boy in East Nusa Tenggara province had committed suicide after his mother told him she could not afford to buy a notebook and pen he needed for school.
Such cases are not only in remote areas. In Cirebon, West Java, a 17-year-old girl attempted to end her life in June 2025 by drinking a toxic floor-cleaning liquid because her parents, casual labourers, lacked funds to buy her a school uniform. She was saved after a friend rushed her to the hospital. The girl had worked in a fruit shop, earning Rp20,000 (US$1.20) a day — not enough to pay for her rented room, food and a uniform. Her school principal denied she had been expelled, saying she had dropped out because of her family’s financial situation.
In September 2025, a woman in southern Bandung, West Java, reportedly killed her two children and then herself due to economic hardship, stemming from her husband’s addiction to online gambling.
Police data indicate that suicide has increased in Indonesia over recent years, with economic problems being the most common factor. About 7.5% of recorded cases were children, although experts say most cases go unreported due to social stigma and reporting practices.
Education Budget
The Indonesian Constitution mandates that at least 20% of the state budget and regional budgets be allocated to education. Of this year’s education budget of Rp769 trillion (US$45.7 billion), some Rp224 trillion (US$13 billion) is earmarked for MBG.
This allocation is now being challenged at the Constitutional Court. Plaintiffs argue that the MBG funds should instead be used to provide free uniforms, books and other school supplies, as well as better school infrastructure and higher pay for low-income teachers.
While the majority of teachers are civil servants with full benefits, many others are hired as “honorary teachers” because they are much cheaper; most earn under Rp2 million (US$120) a month, with about 20% receiving less than Rp500,000 (US$30). Such low pay can cause teacher absenteeism, further hindering education in remote areas.
‘Best Investment’
Some financial analysts warn that rapid increases in government spending, including the MBG programme, could harm the economy. Indonesia posted a US$7.8 billion balance-of-payments deficit in 2025, after a US$7.2 billion surplus in 2024, while the rupiah has weakened amid concerns over debt-servicing costs
President Prabowo Subianto has defended his free meals programme, saying it had reached 60 million beneficiaries by February 2026 and was 99.99% successful. He cited praise from the US-based Rockefeller Institute, which described school meal programmes as one of the best investments a country can make, with each dollar spent potentially producing up to 35 times its value over the long term.
Indonesia’s state news agency has been more creative in praising the programme, reporting: “President Prabowo Subianto said that Indonesia’s Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme has inspired more than 100 countries, with most of the 112 nations adopting Indonesia’s model for their school meal initiatives.”
In reality, MBG is partly modelled on Japan’s school lunch system (kyūshoku), which was launched in 1954. Notably, Japan funds its programme through social and municipal budgets and parental contributions, not the education budget. Similarly, in the United States, free and cheap school meals are mainly funded by the Department of Agriculture, rather than from education funds.
According to Indonesia Corruption Watch and Transparency International Indonesia, MBG is highly vulnerable to corruption and lacks transparency. They have called for independent audits of budget spending and greater transparency in how partners and service units are selected.
Indonesian school students have mixed reactions to MBG. Some appreciate the free meals; others gripe about the food and claim the money should be spent on better school facilities. Many students complain that education focuses too much on rote learning of “irrelevant” subjects such as state administrative structures and memorising names and dates in history, rather than providing practical skills or encouraging independent, critical thinking.
Another complaint is that some schools pressure families to buy newly published textbooks directly from the school, rather than allowing students to reuse second-hand copies, even though many say the content of new books remains outdated and unchanged.
Meanwhile, the government is pressing ahead with a modernisation push, providing 228,000 interactive digital screens (‘smart boards’) to schools. The screens can be used to combat teacher shortages by broadcasting lessons and displaying digital textbooks. The president has said the goal is to install another one million boards in 2026. Critics contend that rolling out smart screens should not be a priority when impoverished families still need basic educational support — and when some areas still lack electricity and internet access.
Knowledge is power, but free meals and smart screens might not actually empower future generations of Indonesians to tackle corruption, pollution, mismanagement and political cronyism.
[DISCLAIMER: Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Indonesia Expat.]