Ministry to hold discussion with nursery operators in S’wak
KUCHING: The Ministry of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development will hold a roundtable discussion with nursery operators and Child Care Association of Sarawak this Aug 15.
Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said among the things to be discussed would be minimal fees for pre- schoolers, education quality and welfare of the teachers.
“We will look into the details of the qualifications and experiences of the teachers, who are teaching at the nurseries because it is of utmost importance in the children’s early education.
“We will also look into how the government can assist if the teachers want to continue their studies or take up courses while they are working through Open University of Malaysia ( OUM), so that they will have proper qualification.
“Trainings and childcare fees will depend on the educational services and quality of childcare because if the salaries are not enough and the teachers look for other options, it would have an impact on the teaching for and the learning of the children,” said Fatimah when speaking at the launch of the ‘Child Care Day’ here yesterday.
She also said childcare centre operators should abide by the laws and in this respect, stringent laws must be implemented for the safety of the children.
She added that the pilot ‘Baba’ ( Bersih Awal, Bersih Akhir) project, covering the aspect of cleanliness of the children in their education development, would be launched at 12 pre- schools.
She also said four pre- schools – each in Dalat, Bekenu, Sri Aman and Kuching – have been selected for the pilot project, which is adopted from Japan.
According to Fatimah, children up to the age of six tend to grow very fast in terms of development; thus teachers must give focus to their learning and development.