Jakarta – The government will allocate approximately 44 percent of its 2026 education budget to the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program. President Prabowo Subianto has announced a budget allocation of 335 trillion rupiah for the MBG program in 2026.
"[We have] allocated 335 trillion rupiah for the MBG in 2026", Prabowo said in his speech on the 2026 Draft State Budget (RAPBN) and Financial Note on Friday August 15.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani announced that the education budget for 2026 would be as much as 757.8 trillion rupiah. This will be divided into three categories based on beneficiaries. The first category is for students, which will be as much as 491.5 trillion rupiah.
"In what form? Starting from Bidikmisi [government funded] scholarships to LPDP [Endowment Fund for Education] scholarships, Smart Indonesia Program card distribution, and also free nutritious meals", said Mulyani during a press conference at the Directorate General of Taxes office in Jakarta on Friday.
Specifically for the MBG, the education budget allocated is 335 trillion rupiah, up from 71 trillion rupiah in 2025 before reallocations and additions. The money used for MBG will be enjoyed by 82.9 million people and managed by 30 thousand Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG).
Other funds allocated include 17.2 trillion rupiah for Bidikmisi scholarships, 25 trillion rupiah for LPDP scholarships and 15.6 trillion rupiah for the Smart Indonesia Program (PIP) scholarships. Meanwhile, 178.7 trillion rupiah is allocated for teachers, lecturers and education personnel. 150.1 trillion rupiah is allocated for schools and universities.
The Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) has criticised the 44 percent education budget allocation for the MBG program.
JPPI National Coordinator Ubaid Matraji said that the education budget is a constitutional mandate. Article 31 of the 1945 Constitution, he said, requires that the state to provide free basic education.
"There's no mandate for free meals in our Constitution. But why is this MBG being prioritised so much, even with the funding increased many times over?", asked Matraji on Sunday August 17 as reported by Detik.com.
According to Matraji, this policy also ignores Constitutional Court (MK) ruling Number 3/PUU-XXII/2024 and 111/PUU-XXIII/2025 on August 15, in which the court stated that the state is obliged to provide basic education without levies.
The JPPI also criticised the government for its lack of transparency in its education budgeting. They argued that the 20 percent of the state budget should be focused on basic education.
In addition, they questioned the government's move to include civil service education in the education budget. Civil service education should be included in each agency's budget, not in the education fund allocation.
"This clearly violates Article 49 of the Sisdiknas [National Education System] Law, which mandates that the education budget allocations must be prioritised for the provision of basic to secondary education", he said.
The JPPI is urging the government to review the education budget in the 2026 RAPBN. The government is being asked to prioritise free and quality basic education for all children of the nation, both in public and private schools.
"It's time for the government to realise and understand: which constitutional obligations should be fulfilled first, and which campaign promises should be fulfilled later", said Matraji. (dhf/gil)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Program MBG Rp335 Triliun Sedot 44 Persen Anggaran Pendidikan 2026".]
