Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) has urged the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology to increase the systematic dissemination of information regarding bullying prevention in schools.
The dissemination must not only cover bullying but also sex education, which is actually needed by every child, KPAI commissioner Ai Maryati Solihah said when contacted here on Tuesday.
Children often become the victims of prostitution syndicates, which often target them economically, for example, under the guise of offering internship opportunities to work overtime, she noted.
One of KPAI’s guidelines for preventing violence against children is the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Minister’s Regulation Number 82 of 2015 regarding the prevention and handling of violence in educational units.
“In the past, not everything in schools was based on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), ranging from prevention, handling, to reporting exploitation were online-based,” she said.
According to Solihah, ICT is playing an important role in overcoming violence against children because, with its help, reports can be recorded by using technology.
The use of ICT in education is meant to enable access to education and increase efficiency and the quality of learning and teaching.
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She affirmed that the KPAI has provided inputs and directions to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology to ensure ICT in every school.
“We have started to provide input, and it is currently being revised. Hopefully, it will be followed up,” she said.
Based on the KPAI’s 2011-2021 data, 6,519 cases of violence against children were reported in 2020, and 5,953 cases in 2021.
The number of cases of violence against children in Indonesia has declined, but not significantly, Solihah noted.
“The number that is considered to have fluctuated must be balanced with the level of reports from the community, at least to the Jakarta PPAPP (Child Empowerment, Protection, and Population Control) Office and the local PPAPP Office, if they find cases of violence against children,” she added.
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