Prabowo plans 10 UK-standard campuses to tackle Indonesia’s doctor shortage

President Prabowo Subianto has announced a strategic move to address the shortage of medical workers that continues to weigh on Indonesia’s health system. Speaking after attending the UK-Indonesia Education Roundtable in London on Tuesday (Jan. 20, 2026) local time, the President said the government plans to establish 10 new universities dedicated to Medicine, Science and Technology (STEM).

The plan, he said, responds to the pace at which the country is currently producing doctors. Prabowo cited what he described as worrying figures: Indonesia is able to produce only around 9,000 doctors each year, a rate he said remains too slow to reach an ideal national ratio.

“Who knows how many more years it will take (to meet demand). By the time we reach 140,000 doctors, more doctors will be retiring. So this is something we must do with a strategic plan,” Prabowo said in a statement in London.

Adopting the UK’s highest standards

Prabowo said the government does not want to pursue expansion without ensuring quality. He said the 10 new campuses should operate under academic standards comparable to those used by top universities in the United Kingdom.

“I want to use British standards, the highest educational standards from the best universities in the UK. We want to accelerate, we want to catch up, we must have the highest possible level of education,” he said.

The campuses will focus on training graduates in general medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, as well as science and technology.

Full scholarships and foreign lecturers

Under Prabowo’s plan, the universities are expected to serve as incubators for the country’s top talent. The government has promised full scholarships for the best graduates who are accepted into the programs.

To safeguard teaching quality, Indonesia will also open opportunities for foreign lecturers and professors to teach at the new institutions. Prabowo said the government would develop a dedicated campus area and offer strong guarantees on quality of life, safety and security to attract global academics.

Operational target: 2028

The President set an ambitious timeline for the project. He said he hopes the universities will be ready to enroll their first cohort at the start of 2028.

“The plan is to build an area consisting of these universities. And in early 2028, we can have the first cohort in Indonesia,” he said.

Indonesianpost.com | Inilah.com