New set of guidelines coming for child daycare centres
(NGOS), International Non-government Organizations (INGOS), child day care centre employees, and experts in the field of child welfare. Under the guidelines provided, Provincial Probation Commissioners will register and monitor child day care centres. The guidelines stipulate standards on caregiver to children ratio, recruitment processes, minimum qualifications for childcare givers, care centre infrastructure, care, learning, play, etc. The guidelines provide a grace period of 2 years for child daycare centres to achieve the standards set out by the government. In a parallel process, the NCPA has developed a draft National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) level for a curriculum on Childcare Giving and is collaborating with NAITA and Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) to promptly make the qualification available to prospective childcare workers and those interested in pursuing this as a career. improving the guidance provided to childcare centres to reach the specified standards and the extension of services for children upto the age of 18 were the main goals of the government.
The drafting process has included wide-ranging consultations, both at national level and provincial and district levels: the Department of Probation and Childcare Services, the Children’s Secretariat, the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs, the Attorney General’s Department, National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority (NAITA), Open University of Sri Lanka, Non-government Organizations
In order to guarantee that more women enter the workplace, the Government has decided to ensure that a good quality child daycare system exists throughout the country.
The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) and the Prime Minister’s Office had collaborated to draft a comprehensive set of guidelines for child daycare centres in the country.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s office said these guidelines had been drafted to ensure that the standards of these centres were not compromised. Promoting quality, safe, and caring childcare facilities among childcare givers, ensuring that childcare and overall childhood development needs were met and aligned with individual developmental goals and