National Education Day, Get to Know the Prabowo-Gibran Education Program

Education is a crucial issue that will be the focus of Prabowo-Gibran's attention. What are the programs?

"All our nation's children can go to school and obtain the best knowledge smoothly" and "All teachers are diligent in making the nation intelligent and their lives are guaranteed by the government”.

The quote above is mentioned in the Vision, Mission and Program document for the 2024-2029 Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates Prabowo Subianto–Gibran Rakabuming Raka. A quote that describes the noble ideals in the field of education that this couple wants to achieve.

After going through a dispute settlement hearing for the general election results with a decision to reject the lawsuit by the Constitutional Court, on April 24, 2024, the General Election Commission (KPU) officially declared Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka as the elected president and vice-president for the 2024-2029 period. Thus, the new government is ready to complete many "homework" tasks that have been waiting, including in the education sector.

National Education Day which is celebrated every May 2 is a reminder that many work programs in the education sector await the realization of the president and vice president-elect in accordance with their campaign promises.

Education is the focus of Prabowo-Gibran's attention as stated in the 8 missions called Asta Cita, the fourth point, namely strengthening the development of human resources (HR), science , technology, education, health, sports achievements, gender equality, as well as strengthening the role of women, youth and people with disabilities.

It cannot be denied that the rapid development of artificial intelligence can change the talent requirements in almost all industries and forces a quick increase in workforce capabilities, becoming a challenge facing Indonesia in the future.

To face this disruption, superior and quality human resources must be prepared, including by strengthening education, science and technology.

The progress of a nation is determined by the quality of education and mastery of science and technology. Innovation will emerge in line with progress in these fields. Therefore, strengthening education, science, and technology, as well as digitalization, are among the 17 priority programs of Prabowo-Gibran.

To support this, research and innovation funds will be sought to reach 1.5-2.0 percent of GDP in the next five years. Therefore, government policies that support education, science, technology, and digitalization investments are a necessity in strengthening the nation's independence.

This is done through the development of perpetual funds for education, perpetual funds for Islamic boarding schools, perpetual funds for culture, and perpetual funds for non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

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Human Resource Development

Education is the key to developing excellent human resources. President and vice president-elect Prabowo-Gibran have prepared a work program to achieve the mission and realize the vision towards an Indonesia Emas, which is to become a country equivalent to developed countries in 2045 when Indonesia is 100 years old or even sooner.

There are at least 9 work programs in strengthening the human resource development system and 20 work programs in the mission to strengthen education, science, and technology that have been prepared.

As part of strengthening human development, a work program is carried out, which, among other things, aims to increase and expand the coverage of the allocation of perpetual funds for scholarships, including to Islamic boarding schools and civil society organizations. In addition, cooperation between educational institutions, the government, and industry is also being enhanced.

Meanwhile, the implemented work programs to strengthen education, science, and technology include improving the quality of the national education system, increasing literacy, improving higher education curricula, strengthening vocational education, expanding scholarships, and enhancing the welfare of teachers and lecturers.

KOMPAS/FAKHRI FADLURROHMAN

Prabowo Subianto attended the Public Talk session at the Belajaraya 2023 event in Pos Bloc Jakarta on Saturday, July 29, 2023. The education network Semua Murid Semua Guru held the Belajaraya 2023 event, which brought together hundreds of education activists in Indonesia. Belajaraya aims to encourage the importance of collaboration as the key to effectively solve education problems in Indonesia.

Regarding the expansion of scholarship opportunities, Prabowo-Gibran even has a program to provide scholarships for the sons and daughters of farmers, fishermen, teachers, and laborers, to pursue a Bachelor's degree up to a Doctorate degree (S-1 to S-3).

The program will provide more opportunities for anyone to pursue the highest level of education. This is considering that according to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the school participation rate (APS) of the population aged 19-24, or equivalent to higher education, is still at 24.99 percent.

Vocational education which produces skilled and work-ready human resources is also the focus of attention of the winners of the 2024-2029 presidential election.

A number of vocational education-related work programs include improving the curriculum, developing and improving the quality of vocational schools in all technical fields of expertise, revitalizing training centers, and collaborating with private companies partnering with state-owned enterprises to open scholarship and internship programs for graduates of higher education and vocational schools.

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Fast Best Results Program (PHTC)

In order to improve and strengthen human development, in addition to priority programs, elected president and vice president Prabowo-Gibran are also promoting 8 Fast Best Result Programs (PHTC).

Regarding education, there are 3 commitments from PHTC, one of the prominent programs associated with the candidates supported by a coalition of political parties, including Gerindra, Golkar, PAN, and Demokrat during the campaign, which is providing free school lunches for students and boarding school students.

The free lunch program has become a highly anticipated program for the community, although until now it is still being discussed regarding its budget.

However, the adequacy of students' nutrition has become a concrete and urgent problem that must be directly and massively addressed by the government to ensure the achievement of good human resource quality and quality of life. This program targets more than 80 million beneficiaries with 100% coverage by 2029.

One of PHTC's goals in the education sector is to establish integrated superior schools in each district and improve schools in need of renovation to enhance the quality of elementary and secondary education.

The superior school that will be built follows the model of superior school without boarding (non-boarding school) and boarding, and is integrated from elementary school to high school. In addition, improvements will be made to schools which are currently in poor and inadequate condition.

The welfare of teachers and lecturers is also the focus of PHTC by providing a decent salary increase for civil servants (including teachers and lecturers). Salary policies are directed towards the provincial minimum wage (UMP) with the highest salary range referring to professional positions, although implementation will be done gradually according to the country's financial capacity.

The commitment of the President and Vice President elected in 2024 with a number of their programs for better education needs to be supported by all parties according to their respective portions and to be monitored so that they do not just become sweet promises during the campaign only. (KOMPAS RESEARCH)

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