RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - The Ministry of Tourism (Kemenpar) and the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) signed a Joint Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support the construction of a People's School (Sekolah Rakyat) at the Dayeuhkolot Campus of the NHI Tourism Polytechnic in Bandung, West Java, on Thursday, July 23, 2026. The signing was carried out directly by Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana and Social Minister Saifullah Yusuf as a form of cross-ministerial synergy to expand access to education.

This collaboration implements President Prabowo Subianto's directive to expand access to quality education for Indonesian children through the People's School program. Minister Widiyanti described the collaboration as a manifestation of a shared commitment to developing superior Indonesian human resources.

The scope of the collaboration includes the temporary use of a maximum of 70,100 square meters of land owned by the Ministry of Tourism within the NHI Tourism Polytechnic complex in Bandung. Of this area, 50,100 square meters are allocated for the construction of the People's School infrastructure, while the remaining 20,000 square meters are allocated for sports facilities and a multi-purpose hall for shared use.

People's Schools are specifically designed to accommodate children from poor and extremely poor families so they can continue to receive a decent education. This program focuses not only on academic aspects but also on character development through four pillars: leadership, skills, nationalism, and religious beliefs.

Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf explained that this program is a government strategy to address the gap in human resource quality within the community. He revealed that nearly 4 million school-age children are not enrolled in school, have not yet attended school, or have dropped out due to economic constraints.

The government is targeting the construction of more than 100 permanent People's School buildings this year, with the hope that each district/city will have one. President Prabowo also directed that People's School graduates be able to continue their education to higher education or work as skilled workers both domestically and internationally.

Following up on this directive, Tourism Minister Widiyanti stated that she would allocate 20 percent of the scholarship quota for People's School graduates to continue their education at Tourism Polytechnics. Furthermore, the Ministry of Tourism will also prepare a tourism curriculum and a tourism awareness curriculum for People's School students.

This MoU also includes improving human resource capacity in tourism and social sectors, synchronizing programs in tourism villages, and exchanging data between the two ministries. Tourism Minister Widiyanti concluded by emphasizing that this step marks the beginning of a collaboration to develop superior Indonesian talent for tourism that benefits the wider community.