President Prabowo Pushes for Textbook Overhaul to Enhance Education Quality

The Indonesian government is finalizing steps to update national textbooks as part of its efforts to strengthen the foundation of education in the country. This directive stems from President Prabowo Subianto's attention to the quality of textbooks used by students and his aim to cultivate a reading culture from an early age, which is considered a long-term investment for improving the quality of Indonesia's human resources. Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya explained that the President's concern for textbook updates began during his visits to several schools. During these visits, Prabowo reviewed the textbooks used by students and identified several issues that required attention. "When checking the textbooks, he looked at them one by one, and then found that some materials were easily damaged, some were already damaged, and the print was small, forcing elementary school children, in particular, to read very closely. Reading them was not good. Therefore, based on that, he wants to check books from elementary to high school," said Seskab Teddy in a statement on Saturday (8/8/2026). According to Teddy, after studying the textbooks used in Indonesia, Prabowo instructed that they be compared with textbooks from neighboring countries as a basis for evaluation to improve the quality of national textbooks. "Initially, we checked ours first, checked everything. Then, try comparing them to neighboring countries. That's how it started, so what Pak Mensesneg mentioned earlier, it will be checked, and the core will be improved to be better," he explained. Meanwhile, Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi explained that Prabowo is paying special attention to several aspects deemed strategic. Besides strengthening national character, the President is also focusing on improving the quality of science and technology learning, as well as enhancing foreign language skills to prepare young generations for global competition. "Second, catching up in the fields of science and technology, the basic is one example, mathematics. Third, to face global competition, one of his concerns is foreign language proficiency, one of which is English," said Prasetyo. Not only in terms of content, Prasetyo continued, but Prabowo also wants the physical quality of textbooks to be improved. Textbooks are expected to have more attractive appearances, comfortable font sizes, and use better materials so they can be utilized for a longer period. "Regarding the appearance, we have explained, we want it to be large, attractive, the print not too small, and the material to be good so it can last for a certain time. Sometimes, in the past, some books were not privately owned and could be passed down or used by junior students," explained Prasetyo. On that occasion, he also revealed that Prabowo's attention to education is inseparable from the reading habits instilled since childhood in his family environment. According to him, a culture of regular reading is one of the values that the government now wants to re-promote in the national education environment. "From a young age, Pak Mitro's family always required their children to read a certain number of books each week, then make summaries and present them to their parents. That is also a way of educating that we have coordinated with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to start promoting again, to encourage again, the love of reading books and the obligation to read books for all of us," concluded Prasetyo.