Jakarta – A series of building collapses at several schools across the county has raised serious concerns about the government's commitment to fixing aging education infrastructure, even as it pours substantial funds into President Prabowo Subianto 's flagship initiatives, such as the free nutritious meal and Sekolah Rakyat (community school) programs.
Most recent is the collapse of a building containing several classrooms and the faculty room at SDN Pajenangger V elementary school on Kangean Island in Sumenep regency, East Java, in the early hours on Thursday.
Rifai, a teacher at the school, said the building had been in a state of severe disrepair for at least three years, with cracks running along the walls and a leaking roof.
"Before the incident, we moved the classes to the terraces [of nearby residences] because we feared for the children's safety. But we eventually had to return to the classrooms because teaching on the terraces wasn't conducive," she told Kompas.com.
Following the building's collapse, learning activities were being conducted on the terrace of a classroom just a few meters from the debris, she added.
The Sumenep Education Agency said the regency administration could only rebuild the school next year due to land ownership and administrative hurdles, leaving the school's 76 students without a proper space to continue their education.
Just two days earlier on Nov. 11, strong winds ripped off parts of a building's roof and ceiling at SDN 156 Kalukubodo elementary school in Bulukumba regency, South Sulawesi. Fortunately no students were hurt, as the disaster occurred during recess when the classrooms were empty.
The affected building is now on the brink of collapsing entirely. Much of its ceiling and support beams are rotted, its walls are cracked and its metal roof is peppered with holes.
Teachers say strong winds have torn off the school's roof twice in as many years. After the first incident, they were able to make temporary repairs because the wooden beams were still intact. By the following year, however, the wood had deteriorated so badly the roof sheeting could no longer be reattached.
Despite the worsening condition and increasingly unsafe building, they continued to hold classes in the same rooms, as no alternative space was available.
And on Monday, the roof of SDN Najaten 1 elementary school in Garut regency, West Java, collapsed at around 1 a.m. during a heavy downpour accompanied by strong winds.
It was the school's second roof collapse in a one-month period. In October, the roof of another building gave way, with authorities attributing the disaster to both severe weather and structural age.
As a result, 90 students have been told to learn from home while officials scramble to secure a temporary learning space.
Earlier this month, building collapses occurred on the same day at two other schools in different parts of West Java, injuring nearly 50 students.
The wave of school collapses has intensified scrutiny of the government's commitment to repairing aging education infrastructure and ensuring safe learning environments.
In August, President Prabowo announced that education spending would reach Rp 757.8 trillion (US$46.82 billion) in fiscal year 2026, the largest allocation in the country's history.
Yet nearly Rp 335 trillion, or around 42 percent of the total, is slated to go toward the President's free nutritious meal program, which aims to reach 82.9 million beneficiaries by the end of next year.
The second-largest share of Rp 179 trillion has been set aside for the salaries and allowances of teachers and lecturers.
Meanwhile, Rp 150 trillion is to fund the construction, renovation and operating costs of schools, but this includes Rp 24.9 trillion earmarked for Sekolah Rakyat, Prabowo's boarding school program for children from low-income families.
The heavy emphasis on subsidizing the free meals program has drawn criticism from education experts, who have warned of misplaced budget priorities. They have pointed out that once the program's Rp 335 trillion allocation has been deducted, the actual amount left for education purposes is the smallest in recent years.
Satriwan Salim, national coordinator of the Education and Teachers Association (P2G), called next year's education budget both "misguided" and "shocking".
Satriwan also criticized the fund allocated for constructing 100 new Sekolah Rakyat, compared with just Rp 22.5 trillion for renovating 12,560 existing schools.
He described the imbalance as "discriminatory", emphasizing that public schools also served students from poor families but did not receive nearly the same level of funding.