September 19, 2025 | 10:38 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) is urging President Prabowo Subianto and the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to immediately halt the free nutritious meal program. This demand comes against the backdrop of repeated mass food poisoning cases over the past week.
"Thousands of children suffered from poisoning, while the government insists on continuing this program without comprehensive evaluation and seemingly lacks solemnity," said JPPI National Coordinator Ubaid Matraji in a written statement on Friday, September 19, 2025.
According to the education watchdog records, as of mid-September 2025, at least 5,360 children have been reported for food poisoning since the launch of the free nutritious meal program. This number is believed to be larger as many schools and local governments allegedly cover up the cases.
"If such an incident occurs only once, it might be considered a technical error. But when thousands of children become victims in many places, this is clearly a systemic mistake," Ubaid said.
The Indonesian Education Monitoring Network believes that the government's "zero incident" claim does not reflect the reality, claiming that the program designed to improve children's nutrition has become a serious threat.
"We cannot bear to see children being rushed to the hospital, struggling with IVs in their tiny hands, and some even on the verge of death," he said.
JPPI refers to the incidents as a national humanitarian emergency. Ubaid emphasized that President Prabowo must take responsibility and not turn students into "guinea pigs" for immature policies. "If the President is serious about his promise to protect the golden generation, stop MBG (the free meal program) now and run a complete evaluation," he said.
The Indonesian Education Monitoring Network calls for three urgent steps: temporarily halt the free nutritious meal program, evaluate the governance controlled by the National Nutrition Agency, and prioritize children's safety over political ambitions and government program targets.
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