The Greater Jakarta Education Agency is investigating allegations of gender-neutral toilets at an international school in the local area.
The investigation was conducted following a statement from Indonesian artist, Daniel Mananta, who discovered that there were gender-neutral toilets when he wished to enrol his child in an international primary school in the Greater Jakarta area.
The acting head of the Greater Jakarta Education Agency, Purwosusilo, acknowledged that he had already engaged with international private schools to address this issue.
Up to now, officials are still gathering this data in the field.
“Due to the news, we are currently collecting data from collaborative schools, namely international schools. Actually, we are collaborating with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology,” stated Purwosusilo on Wednesday, 9th August 2023.
According to him, oversight of international private schools falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology.
However, as it was suspected that the school was situated in Jakarta, the Education Agency intervened to clarify the matter.
“There was supervision from the ministry, but because this is in the Greater Jakarta area, we are also looking into it. The condition is that we ask the school principals in the school units. With this collaboration, we ask whether there is anything related to the toilets that have been conveyed,” he explained.
Nevertheless, Purwosusilo underscored that there are only two genders in the toilets within the education unit under the Education Agency, namely males and females.
To ensure this, the school has reported this to the Education Agency.
“We have checked all educational units in Greater Jakarta, and no gender-neutral toilets were found. There are toilets for males and females,” asserted Purwosusilo.
The inspection, he mentioned, encompassed the kindergarten, primary, middle, and high school levels. The examination did not uncover any gender-neutral toilets.
“We didn’t find anything of that sort, indicating that it is clear that in all education units in Greater Jakarta area, our findings demonstrate the presence of only two toilets, one for men and one for women,” he concluded.