September 23, 2026 | 03:19 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto held a limited meeting at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, to discuss plans to provide free education from elementary school through public universities.
Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said the meeting focused specifically on possible steps to implement the plan.
“Today, the President will hold a limited meeting to discuss how public education can be made free, from elementary school through public universities,” Teddy said in a statement.
Teddy said the meeting followed Prabowo’s commitment to expanding access to quality and equitable education for Indonesian children. He said the president had previously stated that public education, from elementary school through university, should be broadly accessible to the public.
Through Wednesday’s meeting, Teddy said, Prabowo sought to ensure that the commitment could be translated into measurable and implementable policy measures. The goal is to give more Indonesian children equal opportunities to receive quality education.
Prabowo’s Free Education Plan
Prabowo previously said he wanted education at public elementary schools, junior and senior high schools, and public universities to be free.
“I will soon hold a limited meeting, or basically, public education costs must be free. Public education costs for elementary school, junior high school, senior high school, and public universities must be free,” Prabowo said at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) in Jakarta on Friday, September 18.
Prabowo said funding for free education could come from money recovered from corruption. He said money taken through corruption should be returned and used for public benefit.
“Later, later, later, there will be someone who asks, ‘Where will the money come from?’ The money that was corrupted, that was taken, that was stolen,” he said.
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