FCC FINES UNLICENSED DAY CARE CENTRES
27 day care centres operating illegally in Francistown
The City of Francistown has fined 27 day care centres operating without a license. According to FCC Town Clerk, Lopang Pule, in a 2018 survey carried out by byelaw, the city realised that there were many day care centres that did not meet the required standards.
Responding to an inquiry from The Voice, Pule said they currently have 27 recorded unlicensed day care centres and they were all fined P1,000 for non compliance.
He said operators were given time to comply from 2018, but a recent survey revealed that most of them were still not compliant.
The town clerk said their legal department through its byelaw unit sporadically visits day care centres to ensure compliance.
“Some operators do not renew their licenses in time, rendering them illegal,” he said.
He said following the 2018 routine inspection done in conjunction with the Francistown Day Care Centre Association, centres were given specific feedback.
“A Day Care Centre Managers Workshop was organised on 4th - 5th September, 2018 for the office to address the ills observed during inspection,” he said.
The town clerk further told The Voice that since the inspection revealed that most centres did not even meet the minimum requirements, the council took its discretion to waiver them by giving all non-compliant centres a conditional license that expired on April 4th, 2019.
He said prior to fining them, day care managers were notified on numerous occasions on illegal operations.
He said another workshop was conducted on 20 - 22nd August, 2019 and through the byelaw office, operators were verbally warned and instructed to close down their operations.
Pule said there are several reasons for an institution to be unlicensed, which include the hiring of unqualified teachers and operating on premises that did not go through inspection by relevant departments to ascertain safe use as per the Building Control Act.
“There’s general poor care and feeding of young children, which compromises their desired development,” he said.
The town clerk further said there’s nonavailability of proper learning activities geared towards the holistic development of young children, and overcrowding, which results in the spread of communicable diseases.
He said they are working with the Day Care Centre Association to ensure that all members are licensed.
“They should report those operating illegally because they rob the council of the income that they’re supposed to pay and also rob the licensed operators,” said Pule.