Indonesia’s plans to spend $28bn per year on free meals for schoolchildren have triggered unlikely opposition from students angry at looming spending cuts on higher education.
Thousands of students took to the streets in cities across the country this week, decrying what they call Indonesia Gelap or “Dark Indonesia” and marking the first concerted resistance to the policies of Prabowo Subianto since the former general became president four months ago.
The students oppose Prabowo’s call to slash government spending, including on education, to fund his flagship policies, chiefly the free meals programme, which when fully implemented will reach 82mn people daily.
The free meals programme is “not effective because it sacrifices education”, said Cleorisa Cheguevara Riswan, 20, a student at the National University, who joined protests in Jakarta this week. “What the public needs is education and healthcare . . . we need proper education to get proper jobs.”
The frustration among Indonesia’s youth reflects broader concern about the country’s economic direction. The middle class has been shrinking for the past six years as the commodities giant has struggled to create enough formal sector jobs.
The unemployment rate among Indonesians aged 15-24 was 17.3 per cent last August, according to the latest government data, much higher than the national rate of 4.9 per cent. Unemployment among university graduates and those with vocational college diplomas has also been increasing. More than 44mn Indonesians are aged between 15 and 24, about 16 per cent of the population.
Last month, Prabowo ordered deep spending cuts to ministry budgets to save Rp306.7tn ($19bn) for the meals programme and other policy priorities. Officials have scrapped infrastructure projects, cancelled scholarships and even reduced air conditioner use in government buildings.
The budget for the higher education, science, and technology ministry had been cut by a fourth to Rp42.3tn, the minister told parliament this month. The budget for the primary and secondary education ministry has also been reduced.
Young Indonesians, many of whom supported Prabowo in an election campaign that centred on his grandfatherly image, feel increasingly hopeless.
The students dubbed the protests “Dark Indonesia” in a play on the country’s official “Golden Indonesia” vision of becoming a developed nation by 2045. A hashtag KaburAjaDulu, or “just flee first”, has gone viral in recent weeks, as social media users encourage one another to leave immediately for better opportunities overseas.
“The young people are disappointed with Prabowo’s policies and social-economic progress in his first 100 days in office, especially in the areas of job creation, good governance and social justice,” said Maria Monica Wihardja, a visiting fellow at Singapore’s Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute and a former World Bank economist.
The country’s central bank last month cut its 2025 growth forecast, pointing to a weaker economic outlook and sluggish domestic consumption. Prabowo has nonetheless stuck to a goal of boosting annual growth to 8 per cent, up from around 5 per cent currently.
While Prabowo has promoted the free meals programme as a way to address child malnutrition, improve educational outcomes and boost local economies, critics have questioned how the government will fund it, and whether it is the most efficient use of already stretched resources.
Many young Indonesians were already unable to find suitable jobs or lack the skills for higher-paying work, said Wihardja. She added the government could reallocate some funds from the free meals programme to education to help prepare students for the workforce.
Government officials have acknowledged the “fleeing” trend is borne of a resignation over the lack of opportunities at home, though some have questioned the patriotism of young Indonesians advocating emigration.
On Jakarta streets this week, students brandished signs reading “RIP education” and “education emergency in Indonesia”, calling on Prabowo to re-evaluate the budget cuts and free meals programme. In Papua province, students asked for free education and an upgrade to school facilities instead of free meals, local media reported.
Prabowo has not commented on the protests, but government officials said they are studying the students’ demands.
Many young Indonesians are venting their frustration online under the “just flee first” hashtag, sharing links to scholarships and jobs abroad. Overseas Indonesians have joined the conversation, contributing tips on finding jobs and insights into their careers and lives in foreign countries.
“The hashtag is borne out of disappointment, fear and despair,” said Muhammad Syabil Diandra, 21, who joined the protests in Jakarta this week. “We are not sure whether there will be job opportunities for us.”
