Civil Servants Allowed to Work from Home on Children's First Day of School

The government is encouraging civil servants (Aparatur Sipil Negara/ASN) to accompany their children on the first day of school by implementing flexible working hours. Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB) Rini Widyantini has officially circulated an appeal letter to officials in Ministries/Agencies and Regional Governments to apply work flexibility for ASN wishing to escort their children on the first day of school. The circulated appeal is Minister of PANRB letter number B/257/M.KT.02/2026, issued on Friday (10/7/2026), titled ‘Appeal to Support Strengthening Family Resilience and the Role of the Family for ASN Employees’. Through the letter, Personnel Development Officers (PPK) in government agencies are asked to provide opportunities for ASN with children at the early childhood, primary, and secondary education levels to accompany them on the first day of school, referring to Minister of PANRB Regulation No. 4/2025 concerning the Flexible Implementation of Official Duties for ASN Employees in Government Agencies. ‘The implementation of this work flexibility must not reduce the quality of governance and public services. On the contrary, we hope that through this policy, ASN can work more focused, be adaptive to developments, and have a more balanced life,’ Rini said via a written statement on Friday. The intended work flexibility includes working from the office, working from home (WFH), working from a specific location (WFA), and dynamic working hour arrangements according to organisational needs and task characteristics. PPK or agency leaders are given the discretion to determine the most suitable flexibility model, while still prioritising the continuity of government tasks, the quality of public services, and organisational performance achievements. She hopes that through good flexible working arrangements, ASN as parents can accompany their children on the first day of school without reducing professionalism, productivity, or the quality of service to the public. This appeal is also in line with the Father Accompanies Child on First Day of School Movement (GAMAS) regulated in the Circular Letter of the Minister of Population and Family Development/Head of BKKBN No. 17/2026, as part of the national strategy to strengthen family resilience towards Golden Indonesia 2045 and efforts to address the phenomenon of fatherlessness by strengthening the role of parents, especially fathers, in early childhood care and education. ‘The presence of a parent in a child’s growth and development is not merely complementary, but a crucial pillar with profound and long-term impacts. This movement is a simple step that can have a psychological impact by bringing the presence of parents, especially fathers, closer to their children,’ Rini stressed.