Students eat lunch on the first day of a free-meal program at 11 State Senior High School in East Jakarta on January 6, 2025. Photo by Aditya IRAWAN / AFP
Jakarta: Indonesia's free meal program has reached 650,000 school children in 31 provinces, according to President Prabowo Subianto.
"From January to April 2025, this program aims to target 3 million children. By April to August 2025, it will reach 6 million children. In September, we hope to cover 15 million children, and by the end of 2025, our goal is for all Indonesian children to receive nutritious food," Prabowo stated during a plenary cabinet session at the Presidential Office on Wednesday.
"This is a strategic issue. We are strengthening Indonesia's future. Indonesian children must be strong, intelligent, enthusiastic, and able to attend school effectively. I believe that in the near future, we will see improvements in the academic performance of our children," he added.
The program, which began on Jan. 6, is expected to expand its scope to include not only students but also pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and children under five years old.
