Jakarta (ANTARA) - Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR), Puan Maharani, on Thursday urged the government to supervise day care centers and other non-formal learning centers that are thriving nowadays."(The government) must pay attention to supervising these places. Day care centers are non-formal institutions, but they still need to comply with the childcare and protection guidelines," she said in a statement here.
She also asked the government to provide more training and mentoring to day care center owners and staff, especially education on childcare and services.
"We urge for the existence of programs that can increase the quality of day care services, as children's safety is the priority," she said.
In this regard, the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) Ministry has initiated the standardization and certification of institutions providing childcare services, she noted.
This aims to ensure child-friendly day care centers that meet the Indonesian National Standard (SNI).
"Let's educate the public on child-friendly day care centers, so parents can choose the safest and most comfortable day care," Maharani said.
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According to her, day care centers are a solution to fulfilling children's rights to get care when their parents are not with them, for instance, when parents go to work during the day time.
"There is nothing wrong with parents placing their children in day care centers as each people's needs are different. No judgment in this case. The (recent) child abuse case is not the parents' fault," she said.
She also encouraged the establishment of day care centers, health centers, and lactation rooms in public spaces, companies, and state agencies, as stated in Law No. 4/2024 on Maternal and Child Welfare in the First Thousand Days of Life Phase.
