Democracy Good Governance and Politics

Written on 29 May 2024.

Indonesia’s free school lunch initiative stirs positive change despite cost concerns

The Straits Times

Linda Yulisman

Indonesia Correspondent

UPDATED MAY 18, 2024, 10:54 PM

SUKABUMI, WEST JAVA - A trial programme providing a free meal a day has yielded not just financial relief for households but also improved child nutrition and student outcomes such as attendance and focus.

The free school lunch initiative for children from poor or disadvantaged families was introduced by President-elect Prabowo Subianto and Vice-President-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka as one of their key campaign promises. Mr Gibran is President Joko Widodo’s elder son.

But as the programme is being rolled out, it faces criticism over its cost and sustainability.

The pair – who won the Feb 14 presidential election by a landslide and will be inaugurated in October – had in the lead-up to the polls pledged to offer free lunches and milk for students as well as nutritional aid to toddlers and pregnant women in a bid to lower the country’s stunting rate.

Over 20 per cent of Indonesian children under the age of five experienced stunted growth in 2022, according to the United Nations. Stunting, which is being too short for one’s age as a result of poor nutrition, can result in long-term development delays.

When fully implemented by 2029, the programme will cover 83.9 million beneficiaries across the world’s fourth-most-populous nation of nearly 280 million, and cost over 400 trillion rupiah (S$33.7 billion) a year – about 2 per cent of annual gross domestic product.

But on the ground, a trial that was first rolled out in January at 16 schools in Sukabumi, in West Java, has been warmly received by around 3,500 students, their parents and school leaders, who have seen positive changes.

For one thing, saving on the cost of lunches for four of her nine children has provided significant financial relief for Indonesian housewife Rofiati, 46.

Her husband, a teacher at an Islamic boarding school in Sukabumi, earns 2.5 million rupiah a month on average, and the free school meals have helped them save about 420,000 rupiah monthly, which she can put towards other household needs.

Her children do not usually have breakfast before school. Before the free lunch programme, her children would eat lunch only upon returning home from school. Lunch would usually consist of instant noodles, or dishes of vegetables, eggs, tempeh or salted fish.

“I am not worried any more because I know they will eat at school. They have more appetite as they eat together with their friends,” Ms Rofiati told The Straits Times, adding that her children’s appetites have improved and they also like the variety of the meals provided. In fact, her 11-year-old daughter has gained 4kg since the programme started.

Every day, students on the programme receive a lunch package worth 15,000 rupiah, containing rice, meat such as chicken, fish or beef, vegetables, fruit and milk.

At home, the family usually eats meat only once a week.

It is not just the financial savings that parents are happy about. Ms Depi Ratna Juwarti, who has two out of three children benefiting from the free lunches, has noticed other encouraging results.

“They rarely get sick now. They are more motivated to study and spend a longer time studying at night,” Ms Depi said.

Her eldest daughter, Adifa Alifiya Mahrain, 12, also has good reviews. “The food is always delicious and the menu changes every day. I always eat everything. It’s a lot of fun to eat together with my friends,” said Adifa, who hopes to become a paediatrician in the future.

Mr Shalahudin Sanusi, principal of Gelarsari Islamic primary school in Sukabumi, which is trialling the programme, said he has noticed that pupils have been able to concentrate better and understand lessons more.

He said the initiative has raised the attendance rate of its 110 pupils from 85 per cent to 95 per cent. “They eat modestly at home – mostly rice and salted fish. Rice and eggs are the best they can get,” he told ST. “Now, they are so excited, some even arrive in school at 6am, an hour before lessons start.”

The free lunch trial has been extended to other parts of the country, such as Tangerang in Banten.

While educators and parents that ST spoke to lauded the free lunch initiative, it has been criticised by the World Bank, international rating agencies and economists. They fear that its hefty price tag would raise the country’s budget deficit – now capped at 3 per cent of its GDP – and have a negative impact on the economy.

The free meal programme, along with Mr Prabowo’s other policy plans, points to a more expansionary fiscal stance that, if implemented, “would mark a divergence from Indonesia’s long track record of conservatively managing budgetary finances and debt ratios”, Ms Anushka Shah, senior credit officer at Moody’s Investors Service, was quoted as saying by Reuters in February.

However, Mr Prabowo is confident Indonesia will be able to maintain fiscal prudence while also implementing various initiatives, including the free food programme. “We have studied this. We are very confident we can do that,” he said at the Qatar Economic Forum on May 16.

“We calculate that it’s a matter of refocusing and cutting down the waste, cutting down the allocation to the non-essential activities. So it’s a matter of efficient, good governance, good administration, good management.”

A researcher at Jakarta-based think-tank Core Indonesia, Mr Yusuf Rendy Manilet, said the incoming government will likely reallocate some expenditure from other existing programmes to cope with the budget constraint. But he raised concerns over the consequences of a budget shift.

“In the short term, the budget reallocation will put a few things at stake. An existing programme may not run optimally as its budget is taken or cut, or a new programme cannot be executed as the fund is earmarked for the free lunch programme,” he told ST.

But economist Dradjad Wibowo, a member of the expert council of the Prabowo-Gibran campaign team, told ST the lunch initiative will not disrupt Indonesia’s fiscal stability as it will be adjusted to fall within the available budget.

The programme will also be rolled out in phases, beginning in the least developed regions first, he noted.

In April, a team went to India, which has implemented the Mid-day Meal Scheme covering over 100 million schoolchildren since 1995, to do a comparative study, especially on the cost of meals served, said Dr Dradjad.

India’s Mid-day Meal Scheme began in 1995 and has covered around 118 million children in 1.12 million public schools. Each meal costs 11 US cents (15 Singapore cents) per child, according to Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Sandeep Chakravorty. The scheme has been praised for eliminating hunger and reducing malnutrition, as well as keeping girls and underprivileged children in school.

Despite controversies over the programme in Indonesia, principal Shalahudin is grateful for the free lunches at his school, calling them a “gift from God”. A majority of his pupils come from poor families whose parents, mostly farm labourers, earn less than one million rupiah a month.

“We hope we will continue to have the meals at our school. It’s been a great help,” he added.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesia-s-free-school-lunch-initiative-stirs-positive-change-despite-cost-concerns

Hits: 270

Written on 29 May 2024.

TKN Bersuara soal Rencana Pembentukan Kementerian Perumahan

CNN Indonesia

Jumat, 17 Mei 2024 12:30 WIB

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia -- Anggota Dewan Pakar TKN Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka Drajad Wibowo buka suara soal rencana pembentukan Kementerian Perumahan.

Drajad tidak membantah ataupun mengiyakan rencana pembentukan itu.

"Dipecah atau tidak, itu keputusan Pak Prabowo nanti," katanya kepada CNNIndonesia.com, Jumat (17/5).

Ia hanya menekankan pentingnya sektor perumahan untuk dijalankan dalam pemerintahan Prabowo-Gibran nanti.

"Sangat penting karena di Asta Cita ke-7, Prabowo-Gibran secara eksplisit menyebutkan 'menjamin penyediaan rumah murah bersanitasi baik untuk yang membutuhkan, terutama generasi milenial, generasi Z dan masyarakat berpenghasilan rendah (MBR)'," ucap.

Selain itu, ia mengatakan Asta Cita ke-7 Prabowo-Gibran juga menjamin pembangunan atau renovasi 3 juta unit hunian secara nasional. Di pedesaan targetnya 2 juta rumah per tahun, perkotaan 1 juta unit, yang terdiri dari 500 ribu rumah tapak dan 500 ribu rumah vertikal atau rusunami dan rusunawa.

Drajad juga menjelaskan pemerintahan Prabowo berharap masalah backlog kepemilikan rumah dan kelayakan hunian bisa segera diatasi.

Ia merujuk pada Survei Sosial Ekonomi Nasional (Susenas) Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS) 2023, kepemilikan rumah mencapai 9,9 juta unit, turun dari 10,5 juta unit pada 2022.

"Sementara itu backlog kelayakan hunian masih 14,84 juta pada tahun 2023, turun dari 16,14 juta unit pada tahun sebelumnya," tutur Drajad.

Wacana pembentukan Kementerian Perumahan di pemerintahan Prabowo-Gibran mulanya dibocorkan oleh Wakil Menteri Badan Usaha Milik Negara (BUMN) Kartika Wirjoatmodjo.

Artinya, bidang perumahan yang saat ini masih tergabung dalam Kementerian Pekerjaan Umum dan Perumahan Rakyat (PUPR) bakal dipisah. Hal ini seperti yang terjadi pada era orde baru.

Pria yang akrab disapa Tiko itu menjelaskan saat ini dibutuhkan kementerian yang benar-benar fokus pada sektor perumahan. Hal ini mengingat sektor ini melibatkan banyak sub sektor turunan yang membutuhkan perhatian khusus.

Ia menilai kehadiran Kementerian Perumahan dimaksudkan untuk lebih fokus pada sektor perumahan bagi masyarakat.

"Pak Budi (Direktur Utama Perumnas), ini saya dengar mungkin ke depan akan ada pemisahan, ada Kementerian Perumahan. Fokusnya berubah kalau ini ke perumahan lagi, jadi kita bisa berusaha lebih keras dengan pemerintah untuk membantu konsep development yang lebih teregulasi," ucap Tiko dalam pidatonya pada pembukaan acara Launching The New Face of Apartment Samesta Sentraland Cengkareng, Senin (13/5), mengutip detikproperti.

Tiko lantas menyoroti adanya angka backlog yang meningkat dari 10 juta pada 2015 menjadi 12 juta pada saat ini. menurutnya, kenaikan angka backlog ini dikaitkan dengan pandemi covid-19 yang membuat sektor perumahan sempat lesu.

Oleh karena itu, ia mengatakan pemerintah harus memberikan dukungan yang kuat bagi Perumnas untuk mengatasi hal ini. Contohnya bisa diberikan dalam bentuk berbagai macam pembiayaan, subsidi bunga, dan dan penyerahan tanah tidak terpakai.

https://www.cnnindonesia.com/ekonomi/20240517111102-92-1098839/tkn-bersuara-soal-rencana-pembentukan-kementerian-perumahan

Hits: 224

Written on 29 May 2024.

PAN: Kementerian Prabowo Digodok, Ada yang Bertugas Urus Makan Siang Gratis

kumparanNEWS

17 Mei 2024 17:00 WIB

RUU Kementerian Negara akan memberikan keleluasaan kepada presiden untuk menentukan jumlah kementerian karena tak lagi dibatasi maksimal 34 pos. Hal itu, akan diatur dalam pasal 15 yang menyebutkan jumlah kementerian akan diserahkan ke presiden dengan mempertimbangkan efisiensi dan efektivitas.

Apakah Presiden terpilih periode 2024-2029 Prabowo Subianto sudah mulai membahas susunan nomenklatur kabinet?

Ketua Dewan Pakar PAN, Drajad Wibowo, punya jawaban. Ia mengatakan, saat ini Prabowo masih menggodok struktur kementerian terbaik.

"Nomenklatur yang baru nanti apa saja sedang digodok, belum final. Nanti finalnya akan disampaikan oleh Presiden terpilih Prabowo atau pihak yang beliau tugaskan," kata Drajad kepada wartawan, Jumat (17/5).

Dia mengatakan program unggulan yakni makan siang gratis juga tengah dibahas. Termasuk kemungkinan ada kementerian khusus.

"Tentu untuk program makan siang gratis akan ada kelembagaan yang mengurusnya. Apakah masuk dalam kementerian yang sudah ada, atau menjadi kementerian atau lembaga tersendiri, pada saatnya nanti akan diumumkan," tutur dia.

"Semuanya masih digodok dan dimatangkan," tandas Drajad.

Pemerintahan Prabowo disebut akan menambah jumlah kementerian untuk mengakomodasi koalisi pendukung yang gemuk. Selain itu, Prabowo juga ingin pemerintahannya berjalan cepat untuk mengejar sejumlah target ke depan.

https://kumparan.com/kumparannews/pan-kementerian-prabowo-digodok-ada-yang-bertugas-urus-makan-siang-gratis-22l1ILZVEiz/full

Hits: 190

Written on 29 May 2024.

TKN Bersuara soal Rencana Pembentukan Kementerian Perumahan

tim | CNN Indonesia