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Airlangga ‘looks for problems’ in free-lunch trial
The coordinating economic minister hopes a pilot project at a junior high school will reveal any funding or operational issues in preparation for the possible nationwide rollout of free school meals.
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Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto waves from inside his car after attending a limited cabinet meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta on July 10, 2023. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
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oordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto has inspected a trial run for free lunches served at a junior high school in Tangerang regency, Banten.
The pilot project is aimed at identifying any pitfalls that might crop up if free school meals were to be introduced at state-run schools across the nation, which was a key promise of Prabowo Subianto, the presumptive winner of last month’s presidential election.
Prabowo’s team is busy working out the details on the proposed initiative, which aims to feed some 82.9 million people, including schoolchildren up to grade 12, teachers, pregnant women and toddlers.
At Thursday’s trial, Airlangga explained that four main dishes were served during lunchtime: chicken rice, egg rice, siomay (steamed dumplings) and gado-gado (mixed vegetable salad with peanut sauce). Each portion cost Rp 15,000 (95 US cents), which is the cost proposed by Prabowo.
Airlangga who also chairs the Golkar Party, which backed Prabowo’s election campaign, said the trial was voluntarily initiated and funded by the regional government.
He suggested that the trial could be expanded to other places and could help the government identify any problems that may arise and calculate the multiplier effect.
“We are looking for problems, checking the nuts and bolts of the free-lunch program. This includes the different types of school areas, infrastructure and funding, as well as the mechanisms [of cooperation] between schools and small and medium enterprises [which provide the food]. We are learning how to build a public policy [on it],” Airlangga said.
