Indonesia court delays ruling on education funds for nutrition program

Indonesia's Constitutional Court has partially approved a lawsuit challenging the use of education funds for the "Makan Bergizi Gratis" (MBG) program, ruling that such spending cannot be counted towards the national education budget. However, the court's decision to delay the policy's implementation until the 2028 State Budget has drawn criticism.

Isnawati Hidayah, a health policy expert from MBG Watch, expressed concern that the two-year delay leaves room for education funds in the 2026 and 2027 budgets to be diverted to the MBG program. "The court allows the practice of diverting education budget functions to finance MBG to continue for the next two years," Hidayah stated, warning that this could justify cuts to education quality in favor of government programs, potentially opening the door to large-scale waste and corruption.

She argued that education funds should instead strengthen schools, teachers, and learning, as the MBG program has not yet provided strong evidence of sustainably improving child nutrition. Muhamad Saleh, a legal researcher at CELIOS, highlighted that in 2026, approximately 49 percent of Indonesian elementary school classrooms were in mild to moderate disrepair, with 10.8 percent severely damaged.

Saleh voiced disappointment over the court's two-year delay in rectifying the constitutional issue, especially as the MBG program's governance has been a public concern. He stated that the education sector suffers daily as funds are diverted to MBG, potentially legitimizing such diversions until the 2029 elections and violating the constitutional mandate for 20 percent education budget allocation. "In this case, the Constitutional Court failed to fulfill its role as judicial protection of citizens' rights," Saleh concluded.