Prabowo Orders Temporary Classrooms After NTT Earthquake Disrupts Schools

Indonesia’s disaster response in East Nusa Tenggara has turned urgently towards education, after earthquake damage left a large share of schools in Nagekeo District unable to operate properly. President Prabowo Subianto has instructed officials to ensure that teaching continues through temporary facilities while damaged buildings are addressed.

The instruction underscores a practical priority in the recovery effort: restoring safe, usable learning spaces for displaced communities without waiting for permanent repairs to be completed.

A directive to keep classes running

During a disaster-response coordination meeting in Tonggurambang Village, Nagekeo District, President Prabowo called for more tents to be deployed so that schooling could continue. The meeting included central government officials, military and police personnel, and local authorities.

“Schooling must not stop, so bring in more tents,” Prabowo told the meeting, according to Antara.

The intervention followed a report from Nagekeo District Head Simplisius Donatus, who said that 80 percent of schools in the district were unable to operate properly because of earthquake damage. The scale of that disruption makes temporary facilities more than a stop-gap: they are central to maintaining routine and access to education while the wider recovery progresses.

Prabowo later visited displaced residents in Nagekeo District alongside central and local government officials. He said the government was preparing temporary facilities and renovating damaged buildings so classes could resume as soon as possible.

For the moment, safety remains the governing consideration. “For safety reasons, classes may have to be held in tents for now,” the president said.

Emergency tents become temporary classrooms

The National Disaster Management Agency, BNPB, said its tents could be used as emergency classrooms. BNPB Head Suharyanto said each tent could accommodate around 40 to 45 people.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has also prepared tents that were being shipped, Suharyanto said. Together, these measures point to a staged response: establish spaces where teaching can restart, then repair or renovate affected buildings as conditions allow.

Key response measures reported by Antara

• BNPB tents are to be used as temporary classrooms.
• Each tent can accommodate around 40 to 45 people.
• Additional tents prepared by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education were being shipped.
• The government is preparing temporary facilities and renovating damaged buildings.

No timetable for the completion of school repairs was provided in the report. Investors and observers should therefore distinguish between the immediate objective—continuity of education—and the longer process of restoring normal conditions across affected communities.

The human scale of the recovery

The earthquake was reported as a magnitude 7.7 event that struck NTT on Saturday morning, August 15. The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency, BMKG, issued a tsunami warning, which was later lifted.

BNPB Head Suharyanto said the death toll had reached 105. The agency also reported 1,678 people injured and 179,073 displaced. These figures frame the pressure on public services, temporary accommodation and local administration as recovery efforts continue.

BNPB reported 105 deaths, 1,678 injuries and 179,073 displaced people following the earthquake.

Prabowo reaffirmed the government’s commitment to supporting affected residents throughout the recovery process until normal conditions are restored. In this context, the focus on schools carries both operational and social importance: it seeks to preserve a core public service while families remain displaced and damaged infrastructure is assessed.

What this means for investors

For investors following Indonesia, the immediate story is humanitarian and administrative rather than a property-market development. The report does not provide information on commercial assets, insurance claims, transport links, tourism operations or the financial cost of damage; those should not be inferred from the emergency response.

What it does show is the government’s stated emphasis on continuity of essential services during a major disaster. The response described by Antara involves coordination between central government, local authorities, BNPB, the military, police and the education ministry.

For readers assessing exposure to Indonesia more broadly, several disciplined conclusions follow:

• The priority is the safety and support of affected residents, including those displaced by the earthquake.
• In Nagekeo District, education has been identified as an immediate operational concern because many schools cannot function properly.
• Temporary tents are intended to allow classes to resume while facilities are prepared and damaged buildings are renovated.
• The source does not establish the duration of disruption, the full extent of building damage, or any investment implications beyond the response measures announced.

That restraint matters. Natural-disaster coverage can quickly attract broad claims about regional markets or infrastructure, but the available information here concerns NTT’s emergency recovery, particularly the continuity of schooling in Nagekeo District. A sound reading of the situation is therefore one rooted in the confirmed response, not extrapolation.

As recovery moves from emergency accommodation towards the restoration of services, the implementation of temporary classrooms will be an important indicator of how quickly affected families can regain part of their daily routine.

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