Indonesia commits to complete nationwide school renovation program by 2029
President Prabowo Subianto pledges to renovate all schools across Indonesia by 2029, targeting 71,744 facilities in 2026 as part of the country's largest educational infrastructure overhaul.
Indonesia commits to complete nationwide school renovation program by 2029
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has set an ambitious goal to complete a comprehensive school revitalization program across the nation by 2029, addressing critical infrastructure deficiencies in the world's fourth largest education system.
Speaking during his State of the Nation Address at the 2026 Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly and Joint Session of the House of Representatives and Regional Representatives Council in Jakarta on Friday, Prabowo outlined an accelerated timeline for the massive undertaking. After renovating 17,000 schools in 2025, the government is targeting 71,744 more schools for renovation in 2026.
Next year, our target is 100,000, followed by another 100,000 in 2028. By 2029, every school in Indonesia must be fully renovated.
The scale of the challenge is substantial. Indonesia operates more than 300,000 schools serving over 50 million students. According to Statistics Indonesia, only 40 percent of primary school classrooms are currently in good condition, with nearly 49 percent moderately damaged and over 10 percent severely damaged. The urgency is compounded by the fact that 75 percent of the country's schools are located in disaster risk areas exposed to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and floods.
The program, backed by a 16.9 trillion IDR budget for 2025, represents the highest education allocation in Indonesian history. President Prabowo, who assumed office in October 2024 with Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, has made educational infrastructure a cornerstone of his administration's priorities.
Remote regions prioritized
The president emphasized that the revitalization effort extends to Indonesia's most challenging areas, including the 3T regions—Tertinggal, Terdepan, Terluar—which encompass underdeveloped, frontier and outermost areas facing significant developmental, geographical and economic challenges.
Even on remote islands such as Miangas, we have renovated local schools and established a dedicated task force for these remote islands.
Miangas, Indonesia's northernmost island in the Talaud Islands Regency of North Sulawesi, represents one of 92 officially listed outlying islands where access to quality education has historically been limited.
The president stressed that acceleration would be necessary in 2027 and 2028 to meet the 2029 deadline. His vision is for Indonesia to eliminate all damaged classrooms and collapsed school buildings within the next three years.
Every school must be in good, safe and clean condition and suitable for learning. Every school must have decent restrooms.
Ministry seeks additional funding
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Abdul Mu'ti, who was appointed to lead the newly-formed ministry in October 2024, indicated that achieving the ambitious targets would require additional resources. We have requested additional funds from the Finance Ministry for 2027, Mu'ti said following Prabowo's presentation of the 2027 draft state budget and financial note at parliament.
The revitalization program represents not only a commitment to physical infrastructure but also to educational equity across Indonesia's vast archipelago, ensuring that students in the most remote corners of the nation have access to safe, dignified learning environments comparable to those in urban centers.