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strong>April 16, Online

The Jakarta International School (JIS) does not have a license to run a kindergarten, an official from the Education and Culture Ministry has said.

'€œJIS has licenses for the elementary school level on up. We didn'€™t know JIS had a kindergarten,'€ Lydia Freyani Hawad, director general of the ministry'€™s directorate general for informal and non-formal early childhood education (PAUDNI) said on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com.

Your comments:

Just what does the possession or lack of a permit for a kindergarten have to do with a child being molested? Nothing. Do people really believe if there was no kindergarten there would be no abuse? Get real. The permit has nothing to do with it and just seems to be a way for people in some departments to try and distance themselves from any responsibility.

X Simaging

Lydia said the school'€™s permit had not been renewed. She further said that JIS was not a diplomatic school. I think it'€™s the school'€™s fault if it didn'€™t renew the permit. But I bet they made sure all they received all the payments from the students'€™ families, though. Don'€™t blame Indonesians for JIS'€™ mismanagement.

Peter Gryffin

Even though JIS has no kindergarten permit, fault also lies with the authorities. The school year starts in July-August and it'€™s only now in April that they discover there'€™s no license? Where were the educational inspectors all this time?

So many schools in this country have no permits, let alone licensed teachers. If the license is not renewed, the inspectors should have checked whether JIS had closed down its kindergarten or not.

I'€™ve been in Indonesia long enough and in the education sector to realize that this is a way for corrupt officials to extort money out of JIS to get its paperwork done.

Yes, JIS was at fault about the license and the supervision of these kids, but the authorities are also to blame.

Rhefill

Obviously it'€™s very frustrating and in my humble opinion this reflects very well the widening gap between the classes in Jakarta. I don'€™t excuse the act and the perpetrators must be severely punished '€” imprisoned for life, ideally '€” but the school must take measures to hire well-paid workers that also receive health care and pensions.

In a school where it is so obvious that wealth is being distributed unfairly, you must at least ensure that people working under your roof are not arriving at work and being constantly reminder of how appalling their lives are compared to those enjoyed by the people they serve. This is simple logic! Schools must act responsibly, agencies must act responsibly and rapists must be severely punished with the highest sentences available.

Philippe

After all this is done, he'€™ll probably find work elsewhere with another outsourcing company. The government should investigate these outsourcing companies, especially those providing cleaners. It is up to the cleaning service to provide the right people for the job.

Batik