Jakarta. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has rejected claims that she described teachers as a burden on the state, saying a viral video suggesting otherwise was a manipulated hoax.

“The video clip that makes it look as if I said teachers are a burden on the state is a hoax. In fact, I never said that,” Sri Mulyani wrote on her Instagram account Wednesday.

She explained that the circulating video was a deepfake --an artificial intelligence–generated manipulation-- combined with an incomplete excerpt of her remarks at the Indonesian Science, Technology, and Industry Convention held at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) on Aug. 7.

The controversy comes amid public scrutiny of her recent comments about teacher and lecturer salaries. In her ITB speech, Sri Mulyani highlighted the growing fiscal challenge of funding the education sector.

“Many on social media say being a lecturer or teacher is not valued because the salary is not high. This is one of the challenges for state finances,” she said in her address.

She added that the issue raises a fundamental policy question: whether the state should fully bear the cost of teacher and lecturer salaries or whether other sources of support, including community participation, should also play a role.

“Should it all come from the state budget, or could there be a form of community participation?” she said.

The finance minister’s clarification seeks to counter the misleading video, which has fueled criticism of her stance on education funding.

The government has allocated 20 percent of the national budget (around Rp 757.8 trillion in 2026) to education, including Rp 178.7 trillion for teacher salaries, professional development, and benefits, and Rp 150.1 trillion for school infrastructure, including renovations for 13,800 schools and 1,400 Islamic schools, as well as 288,000 smart screens for classrooms nationwide.

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