Will School Cafeterias Serve Students Free Meals?

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Abdul Mu'ti said there is no final decision yet about leveraging school cafeterias as alternative kitchens for the free nutritious meal (MBG).

According to the minister, several policy scenarios are being refined to ensure effective and efficient program implementation. "During our last meeting with BGN (National Nutrition Agency), we were talking out policy scenarios to ensure the program runs as effectively as possible," said Mu'ti in Yogyakarta on Sunday, July 5, 2026.

In-depth assessment is necessary to preface the involvement of school cafeterias for the flagship free meal program, Mu'ti stressed.

Meanwhile, the relevant ministries and agencies have agreed to make changes in the target recipients for free nutritious meals. The government, through BGN, has established that the free meal facilities will no longer be universal and instead prioritize needy schoolchildren.

However, the mechanism to achieve this change is still under construction.

Furthermore, Mu'ti said that his ministry positions itself as the biggest beneficiary of the free nutritious meal program. Therefore, the ministry will only follow the BGN-issued technical guidelines and regulations.

Meanwhile, Mu'ti said his ministry has reminded BGN of the initial value of the program. "The MBG program was initially intended by [President Prabowo] to nurture physically healthy and stunting-free generations, hence why it is prioritized for those who need it the most," Mu'ti explained.

The free meal program, he added, must also integrate character education in schools, as consuming healthy and nutritious food is one of the seven healthy living habits to be instilled in the formal education environment.

Meanwhile, BGN head Nanik Sudaryati Deyang previously brought up the possibility of school cafeterias as alternative kitchens for the free nutritious meal program, calling it an efficient measure.

"For example, in remote areas such as West Lombok, I visited an island with only 119 students. It's not feasible to build a kitchen there. But there's a cafeteria," Nanik said in Jakarta on Monday, June 8, 2026.

In addition to utilizing school cafeterias, BGN also considers collaboration through corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs of state-owned and private enterprises.

Nanik cited the public kitchen facility in remote areas built through the CSR program by PT Pertamina. "For instance, in a region like Raja Ampat with only 115 students, there is a public kitchen owned by Pertamina. We can use this method, so there's no need to build new kitchens at the underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost regions," Nanik explained.

Read: Powerless Against the Corrupt Free Nutritious Meal Scheme

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