53 kindergartens and 18 nurseries deregistered last year

THE registrations of 53 kindergartens ( Taska) and 18 nurseries were revoked last year, said the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.

The ministry, in a written reply to the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, said 10 kindergartens and nine nurseries had been charged in court, during the same period.

“The Social Welfare Department (of Malaysia) has issued written directives to 42 kindergartens and 16 nurseries while nine kindergartens and three nurseries were sealed from January to December 2016.

“Meanwhile, 14 kindergartens and four nurseries were issued compounds while three nurseries were ordered to close temporarily,” said the ministry when replying to Nasrudin Hassan (PAS-Temerloh) who wanted to know the actions taken to tackle child abuse crimes at kindergartens and nurseries.

According to the written reply, the ministry via the Malaysian Social Welfare Department (JKM) had been entrusted to enforce the Child Care Centre Act 1984, Care Centres Act 1993, Child Care Centre Regulations 2012 and Care Centre Regulations 1994.

To ensure the safety of service delivery of child care centres was high, the ministry via JKM also monitored the nurseries, it said. — Bernama