The program will stop from June 22 to July 13, said Agustina Arumsari, deputy head of the National Nutrition Agency, late on Thursday.
The program will also be paused in school holidays in the future, she said. Meals had been distributed during the school break last year.
The agency will stop funding meals for around 39,000 students in 76 schools in areas judged to have the economic capacity to meet nutritional needs, and shift the capacity to students in remote areas, according to Arumsari.
Students pray before eating meals supplied by the Indonesian government's free meal program at an elementary school in Banda Aceh. Photo by AFP
She said the moves were part of a reorganization and efficiency drive. An improvement in governance and oversight was promised after the arrest of its former head early this month on allegations of corruption linked to the program.
