{"id":14076,"date":"2025-02-22T02:55:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-22T02:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14076"},"modified":"2025-02-22T02:55:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-22T02:55:05","slug":"students-stage-dark-indonesia-protests-as-prabowo-subiantos-spending-cuts-hit-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14076","title":{"rendered":"Students stage \u2018Dark Indonesia\u2019 protests as Prabowo Subianto\u2019s spending cuts hit education"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content-sign-up-topic-description\"><span>Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"article__content-sign-up-iframe close\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"signUpIframe\" data-prev-url=\"\/register\/in-article-sign-up?ft-content-uuid=288c3985-8986-4932-a2fe-a0cdd6d1e51b\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>Indonesia\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>Thousands of students took to the streets in cities across the country this week, decrying what they call <em>Indonesia Gelap<\/em> or \u201cDark Indonesia\u201d and marking the first concerted resistance to the policies of Prabowo Subianto since the former general became president four months ago.<\/p>\n<p>The students oppose Prabowo\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>The free meals programme is \u201cnot effective because it sacrifices education\u201d, said Cleorisa Cheguevara Riswan, 20, a student at the National University, who joined protests in Jakarta this week.\u00a0\u201cWhat the public needs is education and healthcare\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009we need proper education to get proper jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The frustration among Indonesia\u2019s youth reflects broader concern about the country\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>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.\u00a0Unemployment among university graduates and those with vocational college diplomas has also been increasing.\u00a0More than 44mn Indonesians are aged between 15 and 24, about 16 per cent of the population.<\/p>\n<p>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.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Young Indonesians, many of whom supported Prabowo in an election campaign that centred on his grandfatherly image, feel increasingly hopeless.<\/p>\n<p>The students dubbed the protests \u201cDark Indonesia\u201d in a play on the country\u2019s official \u201cGolden Indonesia\u201d vision of becoming a developed nation by 2045. A hashtag <em>KaburAjaDulu<\/em>, or \u201cjust flee first\u201d, has gone viral in recent weeks, as social media users encourage one another to leave immediately for better opportunities overseas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe young people are disappointed with Prabowo\u2019s policies and social-economic progress in his first 100 days in office, especially in the areas of job creation, good governance and social justice,\u201d said Maria Monica Wihardja, a visiting fellow at Singapore\u2019s Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute and a former World Bank economist.<\/p>\n<p>The country\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Many young Indonesians were already unable to find suitable jobs or lack the skills for higher-paying work,\u00a0said Wihardja. She added the government could reallocate some funds from the free meals programme to education to help prepare students for the workforce.<\/p>\n<p>Government officials have acknowledged the \u201cfleeing\u201d trend is borne of a resignation over the lack of opportunities at home, though some have questioned the patriotism of young Indonesians advocating emigration.<\/p>\n<p>On Jakarta streets this week, students brandished signs reading \u201cRIP education\u201d and \u201ceducation emergency in Indonesia\u201d, 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.<\/p>\n<p>Prabowo has not commented on the protests, but government officials said they are studying the students\u2019 demands.<\/p>\n<p>Many young Indonesians are venting their frustration online under the \u201cjust flee first<em>\u201d <\/em>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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe hashtag is borne out of disappointment, fear and despair,\u201d said Muhammad Syabil Diandra, 21, who joined the protests in Jakarta this week.\u00a0\u201cWe are not sure whether there will be job opportunities for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/288c3985-8986-4932-a2fe-a0cdd6d1e51b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" rel=\"nofollow\">here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Indonesia\u2019s plans&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14076","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Students stage \u2018Dark Indonesia\u2019 protests as Prabowo Subianto\u2019s spending cuts hit education | inFundPros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Indonesia\u2019s plans to spend\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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