Prabowo Aims for Full School Renovations by 2029, Funds Sent Directly to Principals

President Prabowo Subianto has set a target to complete renovations for all schools across Indonesia by 2029. To expedite this program, the government will disburse renovation funds directly to school principals, with oversight from school committees. "This year, we will complete the renovation of 77,000 schools. Next year, our target is 100,000 schools, and in 2028, another 100,000. We hope that by 2029, all schools in Indonesia will have been renovated," Prabowo stated during a plenary cabinet meeting at the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Monday (07/20). Prabowo explained that the mechanism for disbursing school renovation funds will be direct to the principals. He added that the use of these funds will be supervised by committees involving parents and teachers. "And the money will be sent directly to the principals, supervised by committees of parents, teacher committees, and so on. And it turns out the results are very good," he said. On the same occasion, Prabowo also revealed that Indonesia recently received an award from a special United Nations (UN) body, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), for its achievements in digital governance and education digitalization. According to Prabowo, Indonesia received the highest award out of 122 countries in the e-government and education digitalization categories. This award, he noted, was partly supported by the utilization of the "Rumah Pendidikan" (Education House) platform, which has been used by over 6.9 million users. "The International Telecommunication Union has given the highest award to us, Indonesia, out of 122 countries in the e-government category and the education digitalization category," he continued. He stated that the platform provides 4,843 free learning resources and has been utilized to support hundreds of thousands of teachers, especially in disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost (3T) regions. "Rumah Pendidikan, an integrated portal with interactive flat panels that we distributed, has been used by over 6.9 million users. It provides 4,843 free learning resources and assists hundreds of thousands of teachers in disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost regions," he said. The head of state assessed that this award is an acknowledgment of the progress in education digitalization in Indonesia. Nevertheless, he emphasized that the government will continue efforts to improve educational facilities, including through the acceleration of school renovations nationwide. "This award from the UN proves that our education digitalization is recognized globally. We are not easily satisfied; the journey is still long, but we want to improve all our schools," Prabowo concluded.