Analysis: Free education, but at what cost?

Prabowo Subianto, a resident of Indonesia, has been advocating for free education from kindergarten through university. The state aims to make education more accessible, but the challenge lies in financing such a significant initiative. The Constitutional Court has ordered the government to extend free compulsory basic education to private schools, even though implementation is still pending.

Prabowo has called for free education at state institutions at a limited cabinet meeting, following his earlier statement that education at state schools and universities should be free, potentially funded by recovered corruption money. While basic and secondary education is largely covered through the School Operational Assistance (BOS) program and the Smart Indonesia Program, the more pressing issue is free college tuition.

The estimated cost for fully implementing free basic education is around Rp 181 trillion (US$10.3 billion), with only Rp 71 trillion approved for 2026. Prabowo is ordering the free tuition at state universities, adding a potentially larger commitment on top of an already costly budget.