Food poisonings cast shadow over Indonesia’s free school meals

Indonesia is making an ambitious effort to provide free lunches to 80 million schoolchildren, but things haven’t simply gone according to plan.

After eating the foods this year, almost 80 students from two Cianjur high colleges in the south of the capital, Jakarta, became ill. The majority of those who were admitted to hospitals have since been discharged.

The program, which is President Prabowo Subianto’s personal plan, has recently been linked to the most recent in a line of food poisonings.

Authorities who are looking into the situation claim that the suspected culprit is careless meal planning. Authorities say they have interrogated everyone handling the food, from chef to packing to delivery people, and samples from students ‘ vomit have been sent for laboratory tests.

A 16-year-old pupil reported to local media that the dinner contained chopped meat with an “unpleasant odour.” He said,” I felt nauseated, nauseated, and vomiting.”

Programs that provide free meals to pupils have proven to be successful in promoting health, academic achievement, and presence all over the world.

However, Indonesia’s$ 28 billion ( £21 billion ) version, which is shaping up to be the most expensive of its kind, has become the target of heated anti-government protests and food safety concerns.

In February, thousands of people took to the streets to rally the steep cost of Prabowo’s free school meals:” Kids eat for free, families are laid off,” read one of their opposition symptoms.

The free foods program, which was the centerpiece of Prabowo’s national campaign last year, was intended to combat malnutrition, which is a condition that affects a fifth of children in Indonesia.

Our children may become taller and develop into leaders through this program, Prabowo said in 2023.

This program, along with other populist laws like new homes and free health check-ups, has earned him political points since he took office in October. After his first 100 days in power, his approval rating was 80 %.

550, 000 individuals in 26 regions received free school meals in the first step, which first started in January.

While the program is “well-intentioned,” Maria Monica Wihardja, a visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, claimed there is” no information” of “widespread intensity” for free school meals.

Less than 1 % of Indonesia’s families went at least one day without any dishes in the previous year, according to a national survey conducted in 2024.

A number of food illnesses have made people concerned about the free lunches since January.

Michelle, a student in East Nusa Tenggara province’s secondary school, was one of the many students at her school who died from suspected food poison in February. She claimed at the time that the food was “bland and moldy” and that it had caused her a chest sensation.

Some kids started making homemade meals for their kids after the tragedy, according to a school official, who spoke to BBC Indonesian.

Officials have promised to improve food safety procedures this week following the food poison in Cianjur.

When the students were visiting the doctor, National Nutrition Agency head Dadan Hindayana said,” We must improve high-quality.”

Eliza Mardian, a scientist at the Center of Reform on Economics Indonesia, told the BBC,” One obvious factor is the lack of adult and in-depth organizing before this program was launched.”

The eagerness ultimately ends up sacrificing quality and efficiency, which only serves to worsen the government’s perception of this program.

The cost of the program has hardly improved things.

This year, Indonesia has set aside more than$ 10 billion for free school meals.

In contrast, India spends$ 1.5 billion annually to serve 120 million babies through its largest program ever. Prices about the same as in Brazil and is accessible to about 40 million learners.

Jokowi has urged Indonesia’s tycoons to assist and accepted a cash offer from China in order to foot the steep bill there.

Additionally, he even mandated$ 19 billion in funding cuts, as well as other populist schemes, which created a special controversy.

Some ministries, including knowledge, saw their budgets cut in half. Beneficiaucrats who were not unemployed allege they were forced to compromise by restricting access to air conditioning, lifts, and also printers.

As word of the cancellation of scholarships and class problems began to spread, university students were angry.

According to student activist in Bandung, Muhammad Ramadan,” the worst thing happens when the stomach is full, but the mind is never filled,” according to Prabowo’s college meals plan.

After Indonesia’s anti-graft ministry in March reported a “real chance” of fraud, there may be more difficulties away, such as claims of finances mismanagement.

A meal service provider in southern Jakarta, who has not been paid since her kitchen opened its doors to students in February, was the subject of an investigation that the police launched this month.

Prabowo, who has continued to support the program, stated this week that his administration would “handle” the claims and” guard every penny of public money.”

But, researchers claim that the issue is much more complicated.

Large-scale interpersonal assistance programs in Indonesia have generally been plagued by corruption, according to Muhammad Rafi Bakri, a research scientist at Indonesia’s assessment table, to the BBC.

He claimed that this software is a goldmine for corrupt officials because of the budget’s large size.

with BBC Indonesian reporting