"The development of a nation lies in education,"
Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto has emphasized that education is a top priority in state budget spending since it is the main foundation for building a prosperous nation.

He made the remarks in Jakarta on Thursday while announcing a new mechanism for the distribution of allowances to regional civil servant teachers.

"The development of a nation lies in education," he emphasized.

He then compared Indonesia's budget policy with that of several other countries that prioritize the defense sector, for example, the United States and India, which give the highest priority to the defense budget due to geopolitical and security factors.

"Because they feel threatened and due to geopolitical problems, many countries prioritize defense in the state budget, including the United States and India," he informed.

It is interesting that India, as a country with a large population, gives number one priority to defense in spending, followed by nutritious food and education, he observed.

For the Indonesian government, the main focus at this time is to create a quality education system with the right allocation of funds, he said.

He then drew attention to the biggest challenges faced in education budget optimization, namely corruption and budget leaks.

Therefore, the government is determined to improve the system to target precise beneficiaries of the fund allocation.

In December 2024, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that government spending in the 2025 State Budget was set at Rp2,701.4 trillion (US$159 billion).

Of the total spending, the government allocated Rp724 trillion (US$42 billion) for the education sector.

"This is the highest spending on education functions in our State Budget," she disclosed.

Prabowo increased the education budget for 2025 by 8.9 percent from the previous Rp665.02 trillion (US$39 billion) in 2024.

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Translator: Andi Firdaus/Livia K, Resinta S
Editor: Arie Novarina
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