HNW Highlights Violence in Daycare Centres, Calls for Stricter Oversight
HNW explained that the DPR, through Commission VIII, has enacted Law No. 4 of 2024 on the Welfare of Mothers and Children in the First Thousand Days of Life (UU KIA), which also regulates child protection, including for daycare participants. Under this regulation, the state is obliged to ensure children’s rights to optimal growth and protection from violence.
“The law clearly states that children have the right to the best upbringing and a supportive environment for their development. Therefore, violence in various daycares constitutes a legal violation and must be addressed to save the children, creating a deterrent effect so it does not recur elsewhere or in the future,” he stated in a written release on Friday (1/5/2026).
He added that Article 11 of the law affirms children’s rights to continuous upbringing and an environment supporting physical and mental development. This means every daycare must have decent upbringing standards. HNW also appreciated the government’s plan to regulate daycares with national provisions in line with the UU KIA.
He also reminded that parents’ role remains primary. Under Article 12, parents are obliged to raise, educate, and protect their children directly, although economic needs force some parents to entrust their children.
“The condition of parents like this should not be exploited irresponsibly by unscrupulous individuals establishing daycares solely for economic gain while ignoring positive child upbringing practices within them. However, parents must truly pay attention to the conditions of children entrusted to daycare institutions, ensuring violence does not persist monthly without intervention, as occurred in the Aresha daycare,” he emphasised.
Furthermore, HNW stressed that the state must not be negligent. Central and regional governments are required to conduct supervision and ensure the quality of child upbringing services meets UU KIA standards, with the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection as the leading sector.
“The current cases must serve as a momentum for serious improvements, not just momentary responses to public pressure that fade away, only for child violence cases in daycares to recur,” he continued.
He also affirmed that child protection is a crucial foundation in preparing the Golden Generation 2045.
“Therefore, the state must be present tangibly, parents must not relinquish responsibility, and all societal elements need to contribute and monitor, so every Indonesian child is truly protected and can grow well; healthy and safe, to become the nation’s successors who realise a Golden Indonesia in 2045,” he concluded.