TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsCourt ruling on free meals funding gets cautious welcome
Several plaintiffs and education observers critiqued the Constitutional Court for not ordering the government to immediately revise the 2026 and 2027 state budget, which is still in deliberation, to exclude allocations for the free meals program from the education budget.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Workers prepare meal packages to be distributed to pregnant women, nursing mothers and toddlers under the free nutritious meal program on July 30 in Batam, Riau Islands. (Antara/Teguh Prihatna)
T
he Constitutional Court has ruled that President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free nutritious meal program should no longer be funded through the state budget’s allocation for education, a decision welcomed with caution by teachers and civil groups.
During a hearing on Thursday, the nine-justice panel ruled that the program, which was rolled out last year to combat stunting, does not qualify as an educational operational expense. The ruling was for a judicial review petition filed by education nonprofit Yayasan Taman Belajar Nusantara, along with several university students and a private employee.
The free meal inclusion in the education allocation of the 2026 state budget has violated the 1945 Constitution, which mandates that at least 20 percent of the national budget be spent on education expenses, according to the justices.
“To achieve the national education goals, the education budget, whose allocation is mandated by the Constitution, should be prioritized for the core operational components of education that are directly related to education,” Justice Guntur Hamzah said reading out the ruling.
While acknowledging the free meals rollout in itself is constitutional, the justices argued it should have its own budgetary post, so the 20-percent mandatory spending on education could be used to improve school infrastructure, teacher welfare and curriculum.
The bench then ordered the program to be removed from the education allocation for the 2028 state budget, although it also suggested that the government adjust its spending for next year in line with the ruling.
“If the government can adjust the 2027 state budget structure that has been deliberated since early 2026 to meet the ruling, it would be better if the budget for the free meals program was separated from the education budget in the 2027 budget,” Justice Enny Nurbaningsih said.
