Indonesian Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf said here on Monday the figure reflects proactive efforts by field officers, who have been visiting locations ranging from markets to street intersections, to ensure school dropouts children can access their educational rights.
"We have now identified approximately 700 children. We found nearly 600 of them directly on the streets and then followed up with home visits and discussions with their parents," Yusuf explained.
Within the next one to two weeks, the ministry plans to invite parents and prospective students to discuss their readiness before the start of the new academic year in mid-July.
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The government is targeting to recruit up to 1,000 students for this pilot programme, which covers elementary, middle, and high school levels.
All students will be placed in 10 pilot locations of Sekolah Rakyat, utilizing buildings owned by various government agencies with suitability certification by the Public Works Ministry.
Sekolah Rakyat is one of President Prabowo Subianto's priority programmes, providing access to free education for children from families with the lowest welfare levels, based on the National Socioeconomic Single Data (DTSEN).
This programme promotes the concept of integrated poverty alleviation by integrating various priority services, such as Free Nutritious Meals (MBG), Free Health Checks (CKG), PBI-JK health insurance, and linkages with the Red and White Cooperative and the 3 Million Houses Programme.
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The ministry's data showed that 166 Sekolah Rakyat units have been operating in 38 provinces since July 2025. These facilities accommodate 15,900 students from elementary to high school levels, supported by thousands of educators.
The government is also in the process of building 101 permanent Sekolah Rakyat this year, as part of the ambitious target of building 500 permanent schools by 2029.
This includes the addition of 10 pilot schools of the programme, specifically to accommodate abandoned children, street children, and children at risk of dropping out of school in Jakarta and its surrounding areas.
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Translator: M. Riezko Bima, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Fransiska Ninditya
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