President Prabowo Subianto’s policy of cutting budgets across several ministries has extended to regional governments.
This includes a significant reduction in the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology budget, with a cut of IDR 14.3 trillion from an initial allocation of IDR 56.6 trillion.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education had its budget reduced from IDR 33.5 trillion to IDR 25.5 trillion, resulting in a cut of IDR 8 trillion to be managed throughout the year.
Professor Agus Sartono from the Faculty of Economics and Business at Universitas Gadjah Mada (FEB UGM) emphasized that education budget cuts should not disregard the rights of key actors in the education sector, including teachers, lecturers, and staff, as they play a pivotal role.
“While infrastructure development can be postponed for one to two years, the rights of teachers and lecturers, including recruitment to replace those who have retired, cannot be delayed. If left unaddressed, this will lead to a gap,” said Professor Sartono on Monday (Feb. 24).
He expressed concerns that failing to fulfill the welfare of teachers and lecturers may discourage top graduates from pursuing careers in education.
He argued that investment in education is essential for advancing civilization and national progress. He pointed to examples of developed countries in Europe that maintain strong academic traditions by honoring the roles of teachers and lecturers.
“Without education, civilization cannot exist. Developed countries are committed to investing in human resource development,” he remarked.
He also regretted the potential impact of these cuts on scholarship programs, including KIP Kuliah (KIP-K), scholarships for frontier, outermost, underdeveloped (3T) regions, and ADik and ADEM scholarships, which he referred to as instruments to break the cycle of poverty and reduce social inequality.
“If scholarship funding is cut, it will further complicate access to higher education for the underprivileged,” he explained.
While the government has committed not to increase tuition fees (UKT), Professor Sartono warned that the cuts might force public universities (PTN) to raise UKT.
“We must ensure that budget cuts do not compel PTNs to increase tuition fees. If government intervention decreases while PTNs are still expected to meet the needs of lecturers and staff, it could create a dilemma and unrest on campus,” he added.
In his view, the government must allocate at least 20 percent of national and regional budgets to education, which is in line with the mandate of the 1945 Constitution.
Although the central government has met this requirement by increasing education funding over the years, local governments still rely heavily on transfers from the central government without independently allocating education funds.
“Provincial and city/regency governments still depend on central transfers, which account for over 20% of total education spending. Most of this is used to pay teacher salaries as if local governments do not need to allocate additional funds,” he explained.
Professor Sartono pointed out another issue that requires attention: the potential for leakage in the implementation of the education budget, such as the distribution of School Operational Assistance (BOS) funds and the Indonesia Smart Card (KIP), which are not always properly targeted.
“Budget efficiency is no easy task. We sincerely hope this does not come at the expense of the nation’s future. Ideally, this budget efficiency should be achieved through streamlining government structures. We can learn from other countries with leaner cabinets. With the current bloated government structure, the message of efficiency is lost,” the professor stated.
He strongly advocated for selective budget cuts. In his view, cuts should target programs with an administrative focus and not those directly impacting education quality, such as reducing budgets for official travel, comparative studies, and seminars.
Additionally, Professor Sartono warned that budget cuts in other sectors must consider their impact on regional economies.
If government spending on activities such as seminars and FGDs decreases significantly, it will negatively affect the hospitality industry and other related sectors.
“There must be anticipatory measures to prevent budget efficiency from causing economic contraction,” he concluded.
Report by: FEB UGM/Kurnia Ekaptiningrum
Author: Agung Nugroho
Post-editor: Afifudin Baliya