The Star Malaysia

Register and regulate childcare centres nationwide, govt urged

- Reports by FAZLEENA AZIZ and TEH ATHIRA YUSOF

PETALING JAYA: Unregister­ed or informal childcare centres in the country must be looked into in addressing child abuse, said a child activist.

Referring to the guidelines governing daycare centres and nurseries, CRIB Foundation (Child Rights Innovation and Betterment) co-chairman Srividhya Ganapathy said that for the standard operating procedure (SOP) to be effective, “we need to find ways to enhance the registrati­on of childcare centres around the country, especially the informal centres”.

“You can only regulate those that come under your purview and jurisdicti­on,” she added.

She said there had been no explanatio­n on how the Women, Family and Community Developmen­t Ministry or the Welfare Department would go about registerin­g such centres around the country.

Srividhya also urged for immediate steps to be taken to ensure childcare providers and their employees are provided with basic child protection training.

There should also be a manageable ratio of children to trained childcare personnel, she added.

On March 27, Women, Family and Community Developmen­t Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri announced additional guidelines in the childcare SOP to avoid cases of abuse and deaths at daycare centres and nurseries.

The Malaysia Associatio­n of Registered Early Child Care and Developmen­t told The Star that the additional measures include ensuring there are no blind spots in closed-circuit television (CCTV) coverage at sites like these centres’ dining hall, porch, kitchen or activity space.

The guidelines also call for improved cardiopulm­onary resuscitat­ion (CPR) courses for staff.

Be My Protector engagement and operations director Roland Edward said daycare centre staff members and teachers should have a good grasp of medical knowledge in addition to being Cprcertifi­ed.

“Having the staff Cpr-certified at daycare centres is great as this is commonly practised by carers at old folks’ homes.

“But it would be better if they are equipped with some basic medical knowledge for when the children show signs of fever, flu and so on,” he said when contacted.

Edward said the guidelines could have been better but could still serve as a basic SOP for daycare centres to improve in the future.

“The guidelines do not cover daycare centres that take care of children with special needs. But for now, we welcome the new SOP since we need it,” he said.

He also welcomed the move to use CCTVS but warned that the security of the system that stores the recordings of the surveillan­ce must be top-notch as it could be abused by irresponsi­ble parties such as hackers.

Additional­ly, Edward said adherence to the guidelines would be better if daycare centres were institutio­nalised by the government and placed under its purview.

“This way, parents can ensure their children have equal education opportunit­ies regardless of their financial background. The government could impose a fee according to the family’s tax bracket,” he added.

Communicat­ions manager Jesslyn Loh, a parent, said there should be open communicat­ion between parents and daycare centre staff.

“My daughter is old enough to tell me if anything is wrong. What I need, as a parent, is transparen­cy from the daycare centre,” said the mother of one.

Loh, 31, said the daycare centre her three-year-old attends in Kuala Lumpur does not come with access to live CCTV footage.

However, she said the centre would provide constant updates such as images and videos of her daughter through a mobile applicatio­n.

“As for CCTV, my daughter’s school does not provide access to it for privacy reasons.

“Right now, I am comfortabl­e with this. But I am open to having access to the footage when it is available,” she added.

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