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View all search resultsGovt set to kick off Sekolah Rakyat despite tepid reception
Relatively short preparation time for the program as well as a discrepancy about potential recipients' data have been blamed for the slow uptake of the Sekolah Rakyat (community school) program that will be launched on July 14.
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Blank slate: Workers set a whiteboard in a classroom on Friday at a Sekolah Rakyat (community school) site in Medan, North Sumatra. The Social Affairs Ministry, which spearheads President Prabowo Subianto's flagship education program, will launch Sekolah Rakyat on Monday with 63 sites accommodating more than 6,000 students nationwide. (Antara/Yudi Manar )
T
he administration of President Prabowo Subianto is set to launch its flagship education initiative Sekolah Rakyat (community schools) on Monday after months of preparations and pilot trials, despite lukewarm public response and persisting criticism.
Through the program, the government aims to tackle generational poverty by offering free boarding education to students from the poorest 10 percent of households.
For the first phase of the initiative that kicks off on Monday, a total of 63 Sekolah Rakyat schools nationwide will welcome their first cohort of more than 6,000 students. The other 37 locations are slated to follow suit later this month to serve a total of 9,755 elementary, junior and senior high school students in 29 provinces.
Ahead of Monday’s launch, the Social Affairs Ministry, which spearheads the program, conducted two trial runs involving 250 students in 24-hour boarding simulations. The tryouts were held on Thursday at two of the ministry’s facilities turned into boarding schools: The Handayani Center in East Jakarta and the Pangudi Luhur Integrated Center in Bekasi, West Java.
The simulation started with student registration, where students were assigned rooms and given school kits containing uniforms, shoes, prayer equipment, stationery and hygiene supplies.
Read also: Government to push Sekolah Rakyat expansion despite readiness concerns
They then underwent health screenings in accordance with Prabowo’s free health check-up initiative, which included blood tests, eye and ear exams, as well as heart and dental screenings.
