BGN Head Sudaryono said in a statement on Thursday that most of the removed educational institutions are private schools with international-level standards and schools affiliated with international or national institutions.
The list also excludes schools that are financially independent and do not rely on government School Operational Assistance (BOS) funds.
BGN updated the list of targeted beneficiaries in collaboration with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and the Ministry of Religious Affairs to obtain more comprehensive data on schools across the country.
The data covers more than 580,000 schools across Indonesia, including public schools, Islamic schools (madrasahs), Islamic boarding schools (pesantren), and other religious educational institutions.
Of that total, more than 340,000 schools have already been reached by MBG services.
"More than 340,000 schools have received or are being served by the MBG program, meaning there are still about 240,000 schools that have not," Sudaryono explained.
He added that BGN has received numerous requests from educational institutions that are not currently covered by the program. Each request will be followed up through verification and assessment by BGN before the institution is provided with free meal services.
According to Sudaryono, updating beneficiary data is essential to ensuring that the expansion of the free meal program is carried out in a targeted manner.
Therefore, the program focuses not only on the number of schools served but also takes into account the specific priorities and conditions of each region.
Targeting millions of beneficiaries nationwide, the MBG program was launched in early 2025 as a flagship program of the Prabowo Subianto administration to improve the nutritional status of toddlers, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and school-age children.
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Translator: A Rauf, Raka Adji
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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