Jakarta, April 23 -- The Ministry of Social Affairs has proposed recruiting more than 5,000 teachers and over 4,000 education personnel to support the expansion of the Sekolah Rakyat (People's School) program across Indonesia.

Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf said in Jakarta on Thursday that the proposal had been submitted to the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform.

He said the additional personnel are needed as the number of students continues to rise, currently nearing 16,000.

The government is targeting the addition of more than 30,000 new students this year, bringing the total to over 45,000.

By next year, the number of new students is projected to exceed 60,000.

"In other words, our target is to serve more ...