January 12, 2026 | 04:29 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has promised to establish colleges offering medical and engineering programs and to provide free education in these fields. Prabowo made this pledge at the inauguration of 166 public schools in Banjarbaru City, South Kalimantan.
Initially, Prabowo stated that education is a means of eradicating poverty, though he acknowledged that it comes at a cost. He also mentioned that Indonesia is short of hundreds of thousands of doctors. Therefore, he intends to open more educational facilities such as schools and campuses.
"In the near future, we will open medical campuses. My plan is to open medical and engineering campuses, and others, for all Indonesian children, and they don't have to pay," Prabowo said in a live broadcast through the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel on Monday, January 12, 2026.
Prabowo assured that the state would bear the cost of education. He aims for children from underprivileged families to become engineers, doctors, entrepreneurs, and even generals. "That is my goal. I will be proud to see that," said Prabowo.
At the same event, Prabowo expressed his desire to eradicate extreme poverty by the end of his term in 2029. He aims to change the fate of Indonesians in the lowest welfare group nationally.
"My goal by the end of the 2029 term is to change the fate of those in extreme poverty, deciles 1 and 2. We can eliminate extreme poverty in Indonesia," Prabowo said.
The former Minister of Defense during Joko Widodo's era believes that this target is achievable. According to Prabowo, his cabinet has already achieved various milestones since his government took office in October 2024. "We are not boasting, we are proud of the achievements, we are proud of the evidence," he said.
Today, Prabowo inaugurated a total of 166 public schools spread across 34 provinces and 131 districts/cities. From July to early October 2025, hundreds of schools with boarding school concepts began operating gradually.
Overall, these 166 public schools accommodate 15,954 students, 2,218 teachers, and 4,889 education staff. Meanwhile, the government will continue to build the second phase of public schools at 104 other locations. In the second phase, the public schools are designed to accommodate 112,320 students through 3,744 study groups.
Read: Prabowo Inaugurates 166 People's Schools Across Indonesia
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