Government forms task force to oversee improvements in daycare governance

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Pratikno stated that the government will soon form a task force to follow up on preventing the recurrence of child violence in daycares following the exposure of a child abuse case at a daycare in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. “We will soon form a task force to follow up on this,” said Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Pratikno after a ministerial-level meeting in Jakarta on Thursday. The task force will be responsible for establishing a single integrated data portal, which serves as a regulatory framework integrating existing ministerial regulations. In addition, the task force will oversee improvements in daycare governance. During the ministerial-level meeting, several efforts were discussed to enhance the quality of services and daycare governance. “We have discussed many things that need to be improved going forward, starting from standardisation, licensing, programme integration, integrated information systems, and so on, including field supervision and incentives-disincentives,” said Pratikno. “Of course, the government gives no tolerance whatsoever to violence against children. We are obliged to provide protection to children, to provide the best possible care and education,” said Pratikno. Meanwhile, in the development of handling the child abuse case at Little Aresha Daycare in Yogyakarta, the daycare has been closed and sealed. Yogyakarta Police have named 13 suspects in the child abuse and neglect case at Little Aresha Daycare. Two of the 13 suspects are DK (51) as the foundation chair, and AP (42) as the school principal. The other eleven suspects are daycare caregivers. The ministerial-level meeting was attended by Chairman of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) Aris Adi Leksono, Minister for Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Arifah Fauzi, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin, and Deputy Minister of Social Affairs Agus Jabo Priyono.