Yogyakarta Daycare Case: Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Urges Strengthening of Childcare Regulations
The Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (Kemen PPPA) has conveyed deep concern regarding the alleged violence case at Little Aresha daycare in Yogyakarta City. The case is seen as a momentum to strengthen community-based child care regulations.
Acting Deputy for Special Child Protection at Kemen PPPA, Indra Gunawan, stated that every form of violence against children is a serious violation that cannot be tolerated. Therefore, Kemen PPPA will support the steps of law enforcement authorities to conduct investigations and inquiries transparently and justly.
“We support the efforts of law enforcement authorities to conduct further investigations and inquiries transparently and justly,” he said when confirmed by Republika on Sunday (26/4/2026).
He mentioned that Kemen PPPA has coordinated with the Provincial PPPA Office, City PPPA Office, and the Yogyakarta City UPTD to conduct an initial assessment of the victims and their families. The ministry will provide psychological and legal support if needed in the future.
In addition to victim handling, Kemen PPPA also views the case as an important momentum to strengthen child care regulations, particularly community-based care such as daycares and child-minding facilities. According to him, a legal umbrella is needed to regulate this matter.
“A legal umbrella is needed to regulate childcare, especially community-based childcare,” said Indra.
He assessed that the government has so far developed child-friendly care standards through the Child-Friendly Nursery programme. However, its implementation still needs to be expanded to local governments.
“We have developed child-friendly care standards through the Child-Friendly Nursery, which still needs to be more socialised down to district/city governments,” he said.
Based on Kemen PPPA data, the need for daycares has increased rapidly in recent years. Currently, around 75% of families in Indonesia have used alternative childcare. On the other hand, the quality of services is still not adequate.
According to Kemen PPPA records, around 44% of all daycares in Indonesia do not have permits or legality. Meanwhile, only 30.7% of daycares have operational permits. Not only that, only 12% of daycares have registration marks and 13.3% are legal entities.
From the governance aspect, around 20% of daycares do not have SOPs, and 66.7% of the human resources (HR) managers are not certified. On the other hand, the recruitment process for caregivers is generally not based on standards and still lacks specific training.