November 28, 2025 | 01:23 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Head of the Advocacy Department of the Association of Education and Teachers (P2G) Iman Zanatul Haeri has warned that Indonesia’s government-backed nutrition education module, part of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program, could disrupt school curricula and place additional burdens on teachers.
Experts say the program risks prioritizing food policy objectives over students’ learning outcomes.
He also said that the content of the module lacks alignment with the Decree of the Head of the Standards, Curriculum, and Education Assessment Agency (BSKAP) Number 46 of 2025, which sets the learning outcomes for Early Childhood Education, elementary, junior high, and senior high-vocational schools.
“We see that this module has no relevance to the curriculum set by the government,” Iman said on Thursday, November 27, 2025. He criticized the module as an “injection program,” adding new material to classrooms without pedagogical justification or connection to students’ learning objectives.
According to Iman, MBG was designed as a food assistance program, not an educational policy.
“The nutrition education objectives in the module are clearly for the program itself, not for developing students’ competencies,” he explained.
“This is highly problematic from a pedagogical standpoint.”
P2G also highlighted that MBG has already created administrative and technical burdens for teachers and schools. Adding nutrition education into classroom instruction further exacerbates this issue.
“Now MBG is part of the curriculum, increasing the workload. Our curriculum is becoming more burdensome,” Iman said.
He urged the government to review the module and ensure all teaching materials are grounded in the official curriculum.
“Education should not be used as a space for program promotion,” Iman stressed, adding that teachers should not be burdened with responsibilities outside their core duties.
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