Of childminders fail to meet standards

> Lack of qualified caregivers has negative implications, says Wan Azizah

PUTRAJAYA: About 80% or 13,700 childminders for children aged up to four in nurseries that are registered with the Department of Social Welfare (SWD) still do not meet the minimum qualification of the Permata Early Childhood Care and Education (KAP) course as of June 2018. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah

Wan Ismail ( pix) said the lack of qualified caregivers had a negative implication on the number of registered nurseries.

“The census projection by the Department of Statistics in 2010 estimated the number of children aged between zero and four in 2018 to be 2.3 million,” she said at the launching ceremony of the 2018 Nursery Day yesterday.

She said based on these statistics, and assuming that 50% of children in Malaysia aged up to four require nursery care, our country would need 38,333 nurseries.

SWD’s database showed there were only 4,302 registered nurseries nationwide, she said.

Wan Azizah, who is also Women, Family and Community Development Minister, said the numbers showed a clear shortage in terms of the requirement and availability of nurseries in the country.

“The lack of qualified caregivers and the number of registered nurseries will have implications on the quality of care and safety of our children,” she said.

Wan Azizah stressed that the availability of nurseries is important to provide a support system for working parents to manage their children while they were at work.

“This will indirectly help the country achieve its goal of increasing the number of women in the workforce to 59% in 2020 compared to 54.7% in 2017,” she said.

‘Equality’ was chosen as the theme for the 2018 National Nursery Day celebration in line with the government’s commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which it ratified in 1995. – Bernama