The People’s School program, initiated by President Prabowo Subianto, aims to tackle poverty through education and is set to kick off in the upcoming academic year of 2025/2026 with a student orientation on July 14. This program is a vital part of Indonesia’s larger plan to cultivate a strong human capital foundation in preparation for the Golden Indonesia 2045 agenda.
Adita Irawati, a Senior Expert Staff at the Presidential Communication Office (PCO), highlighted that Sekolah Rakyat is aligned with the President’s focus on education as a powerful tool to eliminate poverty, emphasizing that poverty should not be a lasting legacy. The program provides full funding for boarding school for children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, given that many families in the lowest income bracket face challenges accessing quality education due to financial hardships.
Poverty poses significant obstacles to accessing crucial public services like education, healthcare, and infrastructure, as statistics from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) indicate that millions of Indonesians live below the poverty line. This problem impedes human capital development by limiting educational opportunities, skill development, healthcare access, and nutritional intake, ultimately impacting employment prospects.
President Prabowo’s Sekolah Rakyat program addresses these issues by ensuring that children from vulnerable backgrounds have access to quality education without financial burdens. The initiative covers all student needs, including education, housing, meals, and supplies, with the aim of imparting life skills tailored to each student’s talents and potential to empower them for the workforce or entrepreneurship.
The program’s ultimate goal is to cultivate a generation of young leaders who can contribute to realizing Indonesia’s Golden Vision 2045. President Prabowo has emphasized the importance of executing Sekolah Rakyat with precision, integrity, and tangible impact, envisioning a future where these students uplift themselves, their families, and communities.
