November 22, 2025 | 02:42 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs, Romo HR Muhammad Syafi'i, announced the government's plan to expedite the distribution of the free nutritious meals (MBG) program to Islamic boarding schools (pesantren). This push comes after the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) requested the ministry to accelerate the distribution.
Romo Syafi'i mentioned that currently, only 76 pesantren have been designated as Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG), or MBG kitchens. Outside of that, more boarding schools have received the MBG service, but their kitchens are still located outside the school premises. "For these boarding schools, only 350,000 santri (Islamic students) have received the service," he said when contacted on Friday, November 21, 2025.
The recipients are scattered throughout Indonesia, he explained. Java has the highest number of recipients, followed by Sumatra and Sulawesi. "Now we are also in Sumatra, in Palembang with the Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs earlier," he said.
Romo stated that the Ministry of Religious Affairs has proposed that all pesantren be automatically designated as SPPG, considering that almost all Islamic boarding schools already have kitchens and extensive experience in cooking for thousands of students. "These pesantren have been cooking for the santri for years. We just need to upgrade their knowledge a bit: nutrition, serving, and packing," he said.
According to him, pesantren that have become SPPG have received educational training, have a head of SPPG, and involve members of the school community as staff. "This means increasing the boarding school's income, developing the boarding school's economy, and the community," Romo said.
He also emphasized that when Islamic boarding schools become SPPG, the budget will be directly managed by the pesantren to purchase food ingredients and kitchen operational needs.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs hopes that eventually all kitchen operations will be located within the pesantren, not with external providers. "That's what we are proposing," he said. However, for now, there are still Islamic boarding schools that receive the service, with food prepared outside the school premises.
Romo added that Islamic boarding schools in border areas will be prioritized to become SPPG first. This ensures that the students' nutritional access remains optimal even when they are far from the distribution center.
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