Those Who Nearly Became Victims of 'Naughty Daycares'

Choosing a good daycare in Indonesia is no easy task. The lack of transparent licensing mechanisms, insufficient standardisation, and inadequate supervision make it particularly difficult.

In relation to this, Republika spoke with several parents who entrust their children to daycares. Indiana Malia, 33, is one of them.

The mother of one child admitted to having various reasons for placing her child in a daycare. One of them was her postpartum blues condition, which led her to have tendencies to harm herself and even fleeting thoughts of harming her child.

“I repeatedly engaged in self-harm, and repeatedly thought about hurting my child, but fortunately I was still sane enough not to harm the baby,” she told Republika.

She also admitted to seeking professional help. However, those efforts did not have much impact. She still felt alone in caring for her child. Moreover, her husband worked from morning to evening, followed by online classes at night.

The peak came when the woman living in Depok had to be hospitalised due to exhaustion and was treated for two weeks. Eventually, she decided to quit her job to focus on caring for her child.

Nevertheless, that decision did not bring her peace because she was accustomed to working. She then decided to hire a caregiver for her child. However, dealing with caregivers did not make her life any calmer.

“Actually, at that time I had tried hiring nannies several times, but there was always drama. The last one ran away, borrowed millions without paying it back, so I’m traumatised using nannies,” she said.

It was these various considerations that led Indiana to decide to place her child in a daycare. She began selectively searching for a reliable daycare, from checking the owner’s track record, verifying legality, to real-time CCTV monitoring systems at the daycare.

“I put my child in when she was almost two years old, so she could already talk. Choosing a daycare is indeed necessary because you’re entrusting a young child who is essentially under the control of adults and physically can’t resist if something happens,” she said.

At that time, Indiana had almost placed her child at Wensen School Indonesia, which later came to light with abuse cases inside it. However, her instincts as a mother made her cancel that intention. “There was a heavy feeling about putting her there, so I just did a trial, then didn’t continue,” she said.

In the first month, Indiana admitted to always monitoring her child’s development via CCTV. Including her physical condition, which she checked every day. Currently, she feels confident in the daycare where her child is placed because there are always reports. Moreover, her child’s development has been optimal while at the daycare. As a result, she can return to work with peace of mind.

Nevertheless, she hopes the government can continue to oversee daycare operations. Considering that child abuse cases in daycares still occur. Meanwhile, the need for daycares among families continues to rise.

“Tighten licensing requirements. Empower neighbourhood associations (RT/RW) to help monitor their surroundings; if there’s an unlicensed daycare, they can report it to prevent unwanted incidents,” she said.

Not only that, she also urges the government to mandate office facilities to provide affordable daycares. Because the cost of daycares in office environments is currently considered very expensive and not commensurate with workers’ wages.

“I’ve surveyed many daycares; in Jakarta, it was above Rp 4 million in 2021. My child’s daycare is around Rp 2.5 million for toddlers; for babies, around Rp 3 million,” said Indiana.