September 29, 2025
JAKARTA – With deliberations underway in the House of Representatives to revise the Education Law, expectations are high that lawmakers will introduce safeguards to ensure the country’s education budget is directed to programs with a direct impact on the sector, rather than to misplaced or politically driven policies.
During a plenary session on Wednesday, lawmakers agreed to retain a bill revising the 2003 National Education System (Sisdiknas) Law in the 2025 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) and to include it on next year’s priority legislation list.
Chair of House of Representatives Commission X, which oversees education, Golkar party politician Hetifah Sjaifudian, told The Jakarta Post that the Sisdiknas bill is being drafted using a codification method, consolidating other education laws, including the 2005 Teachers and Lecturers Law, the 2012 Higher Education Law and the 2019 Islamic Boarding School Law, to ensure a more integrated framework.
“With the Sisdiknas bill, [we hope] the national education legal system will become more comprehensive, consistent and relevant to modern-day needs,” she said.
With the bill set to bring sweeping changes, teacher groups and education observers said it should also reform how the constitutionally mandated 20 percent of state spending on education is allocated, noting that the current Sisdiknas Law leaves the rule open to interpretation.
They pointed out that in the 2026 state budget, the education budget is set at a record-high Rp 757.8 trillion (US$45.1 billion), yet roughly 30 percent, around Rp 268 trillion, is earmarked solely for President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free meal program.
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The Elementary and Secondary Education Ministry, meanwhile, will receive just 7 percent of the total allocation, or Rp 55.4 trillion.
Satriwan Salim, national coordinator of the Indonesian Teachers Association (P2G), said the 2026 budget leaves the ministry with a funding shortfall, forcing cuts in key programs, including allowances for non-civil servant teachers.
“How can there be meaningful progress in education if a ministry with ‘education’ in its name receives only 7 percent of the budget?” Satriwan said on Wednesday. “The Sisdiknas bill is the right momentum to fix this and reform our education spending.”
Spending priorities
Satriwan said the bill must explicitly require that the annual education budget be allocated only to the three ministries directly responsible for the sector: the Schools Ministry, the Higher Education, Science and Technology Ministry and the Religious Affairs Ministry, which oversees public Islamic boarding schools.
Education observer Darmaningtyas noted that the 20 percent allocation from the state budget could deliver significant improvements if distributed solely among the three relevant ministries.
However, he added, past budgets have also been weighed down by funding for ministry-run universities, despite a 2008 Constitutional Court ruling banning the practice.
“The new Sisdiknas bill must clearly stipulate that 20 percent of state funding go solely to the three ministries, or else what has happened, and will happen again next year, will continue to repeat itself,” Darmaningtyas said.
Susesno, chair of the civil society coalition for education advocacy called KMPPI, told Commission X lawmakers during Monday’s session that the bill must “redefine” what counts as education spending.
“Right now, the 20 percent allocation is treated like a big barrel, where anything even remotely related to education gets thrown in,” he said. “Without a clearer definition, we will have no clear targets or priorities for what the funds are actually meant to support.”
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Responding to these concerns, Hetifah said lawmakers agree that the 20 percent state budget allocation should be used exclusively for programs managed by ministries directly responsible for education.
She added that the commission is working to ensure the Sisdiknas draft bill gives the Schools Ministry significant influence over how the education budget is allocated.
“This is essential so that education funds are directed toward priority programs that directly improve education quality, enhance teacher welfare and ensure equitable access to learning, rather than being diverted to unrelated areas,” Hetifah said.
The commission aims to complete the draft bill and its academic paper and submit them to the House’s Legislative Body (Baleg) before the end of the month, after which public consultations can be conducted.