The House of Representatives Commission X, which oversees education and culture, has started drafting the bill although “formal discussion with the government will likely start in 2026”, commission chairperson Hetifah Sjaifudian told a briefing hosted by the Elementary and Secondary Education Ministry last Wednesday.

The House-initiated revision is expected to consolidate the Sisdiknas law with several other existing laws, including the 2005 Teachers and Lecturers Law, the 2012 Higher Education Law and the 2019 Pesantren (Islamic boarding school) Law to ensure a more integrated framework.

With the current Sisdiknas law enacted more than two decades ago, experts say the revision must address current challenges, including widespread violence in schools that remains unaddressed in the existing framework.

In a livestreamed discussion on Oct. 20, University of Indonesia's Child Protection and Wellbeing Center (Puskapa) presented findings of its study showing that violence in primary and secondary schools often targets children who behaved outside traditional gender norms, leading to the persistence of gender-based abuse.

The study also found that schools’ handling of such cases often lacked a gender perspective and remained discriminatory, placing stigma on victims, who are mostly girls, despite a 2023 ministerial regulation mandating all education institutions to establish violence prevention and handling teams. A 2021 regulation, meanwhile, specifically addresses sexual violence in universities.

Despite these regulations, violence on campuses still occurs. This month, a junior high school student in Grobogan, Central Java, died after allegedly being assaulted by his classmates.