Oleh: Ashila Nayla Alifa Agnis, Santri-Murid Kelas X MA Darul Huda Planet Nufo Mlagen Pamotan Rembang
Who doesn’t know about the ‘Makan Bergizi Gratis’ program? This is the new program from the Indonesian government. This program is intended for school children and also pregnant moms throughout Indonesia, starting from kindergarten children until senior high school children. But does this program work as the government says it does?
Reported by finance.detik.com, the Indonesian government has allocated 335 trillion rupiah for the MBG program, and the budget was taken from the education budget, which amounted to 757 trillions. However, so far, the provision of MBG has not been evenly distributed. In fact, the government has spent trillions of rupiah in recent months on this program.
Okay, let’s talk about the goal of this program. Reported by mediakeuangan.kemenkeu.go.id, the goal of MBG is improving nutrition and preventing stunting.
Wait! According to nutritionists, to improve nutrition and also prevent stunting, it must be started when the baby is in the womb. MBG is also given to pregnant moms, but why is it also given to school children? It is not as effective when given to pregnant moms. And the amount given to pregnant moms is not as much as that given to school children.
In my opinion about this program, MBG is better for pregnant moms. And then, the remaining budget is for giving free education for mired communities and underprivileged communities.
I will conclude that MBG is not effective for schoolchildren. It could be better if the budget for MBG was allocated for pregnant moms and also for free education, especially high education. Many people need education, but they don’t have money for it.
