<![CDATA[This study analyzes the governance of village-based early childhood education (PAUD) and its implications for service quality in Kota Komba District, East Manggarai Regency. Using a qualitative case-study approach, the research involved 37 PAUD informants/respondents and drew on interviews, observation, and documentation review. The findings reveal four major governance problems: low teacher welfare, inadequate academic qualifications, weak service sustainability, and village-level political influence over teacher appointments and replacements. PAUD teachers generally receive only IDR 300,000-500,000 per month, usually paid quarterly, while most still hold senior high school qualifications. Observation data indicate limited learning facilities, inconsistent service implementation, multiple teacher workloads, and incomplete learning administration. Documentation review confirms these findings through honorarium records, teacher qualification documents, attendance lists, institutional files, learning plans, and service evaluation records that are not yet systematically organized. These governance weaknesses affect teacher motivation, learning continuity, pedagogical quality, institutional stability, child-teacher relationships, and the sustainability of services. The study recommends strengthening village PAUD governance through competency-based recruitment, accountable financing, regular and more decent teacher honoraria, teacher qualification upgrading, protection from political intervention, improved learning administration, and a village-based quality assurance system.]]>
