- Jakarta hosts 2025 ECED Symposium, emphasising integrated approaches for early childhood development under the theme 'ECED Ecosystem Synergy in Promoting the Best Start in Life'.
- Experts highlight cross-sector collaboration, focusing on health, nutrition, early learning, and responsive caregiving to maximise children’s development.
- Government and Tanoto Foundation reaffirm commitment, aligning policies and innovations with Indonesia’s national development plans for 0–5-year-olds.
Jakarta hosted the 2025 International Symposium on Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) organised by the Tanoto Foundation, bringing together government leaders, international organisations, researchers, and civil society under the theme 'ECED Ecosystem Synergy in Promoting the Best Start in Life'. The event highlighted the critical need for integrated approaches to ensure children receive holistic support from their earliest years.
The symposium comes at a pivotal time as Indonesia and other countries continue to face challenges affecting early childhood outcomes, including gaps in nutrition, caregiving, and access to quality learning. Experts emphasised that without strong cross-sector collaboration across health, education, parenting, and social protection, Indonesia risks undermining its long-term human capital and the potential of its demographic dividend towards Indonesia Emas 2045.
In partnership with government ministries and cross-sector organisations, the Tanoto Foundation convened the symposium to foster alignment between policy, research, and practice. Participants included representatives from central and local government, international organisations, academia, civil society, and philanthropy.
The symposium featured two main discussion tracks. The morning session, 'Synergising Health and Education for ECED', focused on integrating health, nutrition, and early learning services, highlighting innovations in growth and development monitoring, nutrition interventions, and early stimulation within primary service systems. The afternoon session, 'Parenting and Early Learning', placed families and caregivers at the centre of the ECED ecosystem, examining responsive caregiving, interaction-based learning, and policy measures to strengthen parents’ capacity to nurture children’s development.
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Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin opened the symposium, stressing the decisive importance of the early years for national development. “The age of 0 to 5 years is a highly decisive phase in determining whether a person will grow into a healthy, intelligent adult who can contribute to the nation,” he said. “If we do not act quickly, we risk missing Indonesia’s demographic dividend. This is our responsibility to our children.”
The Government of Indonesia has reaffirmed early childhood development as a national priority through its Long-Term National Development Plan 2025–2045 and the Medium-Term Plan 2025-2029, with Holistic and Integrated Early Childhood Development (PAUD-HI) designated as a key performance indicator.
Indonesian Minister of Women Empowerment and Child Protection, Arifatul Choiri Fauzi, highlighted the symposium’s role in informing policy and service innovations, while Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Prof. Stella Christie emphasised the importance of science-based parenting and high-quality caregiver-child interaction. “Caregiving with optimal interaction between children and caregivers has the greatest potential to maximise child development”, she said, noting that no technology, including artificial intelligence, can replace human interaction.
Benny Lee, CEO of the Tanoto Foundation, reaffirmed the organisation’s long-term commitment to early childhood development. “The early years are when the foundations of brain development, health, and character are formed”, he said. “This is not the work of one institution. It requires a truly supportive ecosystem built through collaboration among government, civil society, academia, and philanthropy”. He added that collective action ensures every child receives the strongest start in life, every parent receives needed support, and every sector advances together.
