Thousands of university students held a demonstration opposing several government policies deemed unsupportive of the public’s needs. The student crowd marched from the Patung Kuda area to the Presidential Palace Complex in Central Jakarta.
The protest, themed ‘Indonesia Gelap’ (Dark Indonesia), criticized budget cuts redirected to the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program, the granting of campus licenses to manage mines, the scarcity of LPG gas, and cuts in education and healthcare funding.
Chair of the UGM Student Executive Board (BEM-KM), Tiyo Ardianto, expressed support for the student protests in Jakarta, stating that they would hold a similar protest this week.
Ardianto urged President Prabowo Subianto to review the budget efficiency policies, especially cuts to education, healthcare, public facilities, and services, which should be carefully reconsidered in light of public interest.
“We ask the President to review this,” said Ardianto on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025.
He pointed out that the budget allocated for the education sector has long been inadequate in supporting basic to higher education.
The government has yet to address issues like poor infrastructure and unpaid honorarium teachers.
However, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education’s budget, initially set at IDR 33.5 trillion, was slashed by IDR 8 trillion, leaving only IDR 25.5 trillion for the year.
This decision raises serious concerns about the government’s commitment to prioritizing education, especially considering similar cuts to the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology.
“State universities will surely struggle more to find additional funds. The easiest solution? Raise tuition fees. Who suffers? Students, parents, and Indonesians who may have to abandon their dream of higher education due to financial barriers,” Ardianto explained.
Although the government recently responded that tuition fees would not increase and the KIP-K scholarship program would continue, he criticized the initial decision to sacrifice the education budget in the name of budget efficiency.
Ardianto noted that the government might further cut the budget, citing Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 1 of 2025, which targets budget efficiency of IDR 306.69 trillion.
He argued that it is unwise to make such drastic cuts to support programs like MBG that were difficult to fund through the state budget.
“President Prabowo must realize that reckless budget cuts should not be made just to fulfill political promises for a program that lacks sufficient academic review,” he added.
According to him, BEM-KM UGM has two main demands for the government.
First, the MBG Program should be thoroughly evaluated, aligning it with the current state budget capacity and national economy.
The government should not hesitate to cancel the program and refocus on fundamental sectors such as education and public health.
Second, the implementation of a Progressive Tax Policy is expected to become a new source of state revenue.
Therefore, the government must reassess its priorities before making further decisions.
“Restore the people’s trust in the government and the future by ensuring a clean administration free from corruption,” Ardianto urged.
He emphasized that if the government does not meet these student demands, he and students from various regions across Indonesia will once again take to the streets, this time in larger numbers, together with the public.
Author: Tasya
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Lintang
Photo: Kompas