The 2026/2027 school year began this week across Indonesia with the traditional Masa Pengenalan Lingkungan Sekolah (MPLS) orientation, yet in several state primary schools the welcome was for only a handful of children. At SDN Purwoyoso 01 in Semarang, Central Java, three new pupils arrived; at SDN 1 Gedung Meneng in Bandar Lampung, Sumatra, the figure was two. Local education authorities in Rejang Lebong, Bengkulu, reported that 13 state primary schools had received no new students at all by the close of the official enrolment period, while around 60 schools in Sleman, Yogyakarta, remained short of their intake targets.

Parliament speaker Puan Maharani called on the government to map the causes before imposing uniform solutions, noting that possible factors include falling birth rates, migration, mismatched school distribution, and declining public trust in state schools. The education ministry, which has already shared enrolment data with the home affairs ministry, said any policy response would be designed together with regional governments and would consider the impact on communities. In parallel, the government pressed ahead with a large-scale construction programme: 20 new Sekolah Rakyat (People’s Schools) built by a state-owned enterprise were declared ready for use, and the social affairs ministry announced an operational budget of around Rp4 trillion for the year, with per-pupil costs estimated at Rp3–4 million per month.

The start of term also saw the rollout of a “friendly MPLS” policy intended to eliminate bullying and perpeloncoan (hazing), alongside a ministerial circular restricting the use of digital devices in school to improve concentration and social interaction. Psychologists from the University of Indonesia advised parents to watch for signs of anxiety in children adapting to new environments, while the education minister visited a Jakarta primary school that had received a bomb threat, to offer psychological support and reinforce the message of safe, inclusive schooling.

Viewed from outside Indonesia, the enrolment disparities echo wider global strains on public education systems. In Sweden, the teachers’ union warned that over half of preschool groups for the youngest children exceed national size guidelines, and a public debate has questioned whether the expansion of institutional childcare amounts to a “social experiment”. Malaysia’s deputy education minister presented a new 10-year blueprint to parliament that introduces flexibility and sustainability as core pillars, aiming to close urban-rural achievement gaps. In Argentina, education analysts noted that only 10 per cent of secondary students finish on time, prompting calls to rewrite the secondary school model to serve as a genuine safety net.

Indonesian authorities stressed that the enrolment picture remains provisional, as some regions have extended the admission window until mid-August to allow late registrations. The education ministry said it would finalise its review of under-enrolled schools only after the data collection period closes, leaving open the question of whether the near-empty classrooms are a temporary anomaly or a structural signal.