Indonesia’s Sekolah Rakyat construction employs 97,000 workers
The programme’s second phase covers 100 sites in 32 provinces, with capacity for 122,000 students, according to the Public Works Ministry.
Indonesia’s Public Works Ministry says 97,000 local workers have been employed to build schools under the second phase of Sekolah Rakyat. Most were hired directly from villages and subdistricts near the construction sites.
The ministry is building facilities at 100 locations across 32 provinces, providing capacity for 122,000 students. Sekolah Rakyat offers tuition-free schooling to children from poor and extremely poor families and is part of President Prabowo Subianto’s Asta Cita agenda.
Public Works Minister Dody Hanggodo said the projects were generating employment and raising household incomes in surrounding communities. He also pointed to demand for local construction materials, meals for workers and transport services as benefits that begin before the schools open.
To speed up construction in some areas, the ministry has worked with the Indonesian Army’s (TNI AD) Development Territorial Battalions, including in disadvantaged, frontier and outermost regions.
Hanggodo said infrastructure quality remained the priority in providing modern education facilities. The programme also supports wider government efforts to extend compulsory education to 13 years and improve educational access and quality nationwide.
