T

he Gianyar Children'€™s Penitentiary in Amlapura, Karangasem, is now opening its doors so inmates who wish to study at schools outside the prison compound may do so.

Currently, three children have started using this privilege, and are studying in nearby schools in the town, which is home to the only children'€™s prison on the island.

Prison Warden Didik Heru Sukoco said that he also allowed outside parties to visit and teach the children to develop skills training so they could function in the real world after release.

'€œI actually want them all to join the Kejar Paket program so that they don'€™t stop their education, but we don'€™t have enough students yet to reach the minimum requirement,'€ he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The Kejar Paket program is a non-formal education scheme recognized by the government that issues equivalent school-level certificates.

Every day, prison officers now take the three inmates to school at 7 a.m. and pick them up to return them to their cells at 1 p.m.

The prison currently holds 16 inmates and has capacity for 34.

Later this week, another 10 children from Gianyar will take up residence in the prison. They have been sentenced to imprisonment for their involvement in a rape case in which 15 people were proven to have been involved, four of whom were adults while the rest were minors.

'€œMost of them have been jailed for sexual harassment cases,'€ said the newly appointed warden.

Didik said that he would support any party wanting to teach the children skills, such as repairing electronic devices and art.

He said the government'€™s budget was insufficient and could not offer more options to these children.

Child psychiatrist Ayu Sri Wahyuni, who often visits the penitentiary, said it was important for the prison to prepare a pre-release program so that inmates could leave the prison in a healthy physical and mental condition.

Ayu criticized prisons today that still skipped the pre-release programs, as well as the fact there were still children being held in adult prisons.

Child protection activists lauded the plan and reiterated that the government was obliged to protect children, including those facing legal proceedings.

The Convention of the Rights of the Child '€” also ratified by Indonesia '€” stipulates that legal proceedings are the last resort for children and if imprisonment is inevitable, the punishment should be the minimum possible.

Article 64 of the 2002 Child Protection Law also states that protection for children facing legal proceedings includes humane treatment, companionship and suitable infrastructure.

As many as 14 child prisons exist in Indonesia, with Gianyar prison being one of them.

The Gianyar Children'€™s Penitentiary was built in 1971 on Jl. Serma Natih in Amlapura, adjacent to the IIB Karangasem Penitentiary for adults.

Apparently, the government had planned to build the children'€™s prison in Gianyar regency, considering the area was famous for its art, paintings and sculptures in the hope that it could equip the inmates with arts skills.

However, as the government had yet to prepare funds for the land procurement, the prison was built in Karangasem, while retaining the Gianyar name.