Court bars MBG programme from using education budget

JAKARTA – Indonesia's Constitutional Court has ruled that funding for the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme can no longer be drawn from the 20% allocation for education in the state budget.

Under the ruling issued on Thursday (30/7), the government has until the preparation of the 2028 state budget to separate MBG funding from the education budget.

In its decision, the court partially granted a petition filed by the Yayasan Taman Belajar Nusantara foundation and several other applicants. However, the current funding arrangement under the 2026 state budget may remain in place during the transition period.

"The petitioners' application is partially granted," the Constitutional Court judges said while delivering the ruling.

In their petition, the applicants argued that the MBG programme is not a core component of Indonesia's education system and therefore should not be financed through the education allocation in the state budget.

The court said the separation was intended to ensure that education funding in the state budget remains consistent with the constitutional mandate.

"The MBG programme, or any similarly named programme involving the distribution of nutritious meals within the education budget, must be excluded from the operational definition of education delivery, so that it no longer uses the education budget allocation in the state budget," Constitutional Court Justice Enny Nurbaningsih said while reading the ruling.

She added that the decision was intended to ensure that education funding not only complies with administrative requirements but is genuinely used to finance the provision of education.

"At the same time, it provides a stronger legal basis and greater legal certainty for the implementation of the MBG programme as a priority initiative of the government elected in the 2024 general election," she said.

The Constitutional Court also reaffirmed that the constitutional requirement to allocate at least 20% of the state budget to education cannot be deferred. (KR/ZH)