Ministry of Education Still Calculating Budget for Free Private Schooling

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is determining the budget required to implement free private schooling at the elementary and junior high levels. According to Deputy Minister Atip Latipulhayat, it is too early to estimate how much of the national budget will be required to comply with Constitutional Court Ruling No. 3/PUU-XXII/2024.

"We're still calculating. Since it's a massive task, please bear with us. It's a big figure, so we can't rush it," Atip said during a meeting at the DPR Parliamentary Complex in Jakarta on Tuesday, June 3. "If our calculations aren't precise, the budget won't be either," he added.

Atip did not provide a clear answer regarding the government's ability to comply with the court's mandate for free education in public and private schools. Instead, he pointed out that the House of Representatives (DPR) has constitutional authority over budget allocation. As the executive branch, the Ministry of Education is responsible for providing empirical data showing how the budget should be allocated.

Atip said the ministry is arranging meetings with other agencies and ministries to address the court's decision. "We're preparing internally and will soon coordinate with relevant ministries," he said. He mentioned the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the National Development Planning Agency as key players.

He noted that limited funding and the uneven distribution of education budgets are major hurdles to achieving free schooling. In the 2025 national budget, 20 percent is allocated to education, equivalent to Rp724.3 trillion. However, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education only manages 4.9 percent of that: Rp35.49 trillion.

"Compulsory education falls under our ministry, yet we receive only 4.9 percent of the budget. This means the National Education System Law needs a review of its budget policies," Atip said. He stressed that the government needs to restructure the national budget so that education funds are managed directly by the relevant ministry.

On Tuesday, May 27, the Constitutional Court granted a judicial review of Article 34, Paragraph 2 of Law No. 20/2003 on the National Education System, which was filed by the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI). The petitioner requested that compulsory basic education, at least at the elementary level, be provided free of charge at public and private schools alike.

The court approved the request, mandating the government to provide nine years of free basic education (from elementary to junior high) at public and private schools. Constitutional Court Judge Guntur Hamzah explained that the state has a constitutional obligation to fully fund basic education under Article 31, Paragraph 2, of the 1945 Constitution. The court noted that funding for compulsory education has focused only on public schools so far, even though many children attend private schools.

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