Encourage illegal nurseries to apply for licences, govt urged

 

Consumer group leader Tarmizi Anuwar says nursery workers and teachers must be trained in early childhood education. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The government should set a “whitelisting period” to encourage illegal nurseries to register and obtain licences, a consumer group said.

Consumer Choice Centre’s Malaysian country associate Tarmizi Anuwar said the government needs to increase monitoring and enforcement to identify unregistered care centres and untrained caregivers.

“It is very important that nursery workers (and) teachers are trained in early childhood education. Untrained workers or teachers may endanger the children’s safety and not be able to provide effective education,” he told FMT.

On Oct 10, a two-month-old baby died at a childcare centre in Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya. The centre was not registered with the social welfare department.

“The government needs to set up a nursery whitelisting period and give entrepreneurs the opportunity to register and comply with the guidelines created under the Child Care Centre Act 1984,” he said.

He said guidelines should ensure that all nurseries are properly equipped with the necessary licences, basic equipment and skills for the proper operation of the centre.

“Parents must check the registration of the care centre or premises with the social welfare department before sending their children there,” he said.

A mother who wanted to be known only as Siti Farizahani said it was important for parents to choose licensed daycare centres.

Farizahani, who sends her two-year-old daughter to a daycare centre in Johor Bahru, said such centres should provide quality service and adopt a report card system that will allow parents to know their children’s daily activities.

Farizahani, who works as an executive in the private sector, said: “The government should enforce safety regulations. Surprise inspections should be conducted more frequently to check (for) compliance with daycare operational standards.”

Another parent, Atie Muhammad, said she did some background checks on the daycare centre and inspected it prior to sending her nine-month-old son there.

“When a daycare centre is licensed, we, as parents, know that certain rules and regulations are being followed by that centre,” the lawyer said.

Atie, who has two children, said daycare centres should have closed-circuit television cameras to allow parents to track their children’s daily activities remotely. - FMT