THE issue of keeping children safe in the hands of childminders is not an easy one. There are 2.6 million Malaysian children aged between 0-4 years. Many young parents work to meet the needs of their families hence, both the father and mother may be employed and require a childminder.

Under the Child Care Centre Act 1984, a “child care centre” is defined as any premise that receives four or more children under the age of 4 to be cared for, for a fee. Such centres must be licensed and registered with the Welfare Department. The act does not cover childcare by relatives. More importantly, childminders looking after fewer than four children are exempted from registration.

There are four categories of childcare centres outlined in Section 5 of the act: home-based, workplace-based, community-based and institution-based childcare centres. A fifth category are childcare centres for children with disabilities. Most are defined as looking after 10 or more children except for home-based centres (four to nine children).

In 2016, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry stated that only 4,240 nurseries and 1,650 childcare centres were registered with the Welfare Department. No one knows the real number as most operate quietly and parents are in need of services. If we consider the 2.6 million children under 4 years old and take a very conservative approach and assumptions:

1.     Assume that 50% of women work (underestimation, 54% in 2016).

2.     Assume that 50% of those who work get their relatives to look after children.

3.     Assume that most childcare centres are large (more than 10 children; an overestimation as most childminders of young children under 2-3 years old run small centres).

It would suggest that there are at least 65,000 childcare centres or nurseries operating, with some being unregistered. Many childminders look after one to three children, and are exempted from registration.

Registered childcare centres are expected to have a good curriculum and be monitored by the Welfare Department to check on staff qualifications, safety, quality of care, ratio of staff to children, nutrition, etc. Apart from the role of the Welfare Department, the Association of Registered Childcare Providers Malaysia has worked hard to try and elevate childcare services in the country.

I would like to outline some major challenges and offer some suggestions on improving the safety of children in the hands of our childminders.

Firstly, there has been a call for more legislation but this may not be a major solution. The existing laws and regulations are comprehensive but laws are rarely preventative in nature; they often act after the fact. One possible tightening of the Child Care Centre Act 1984 is to consider if we need to include registration of childminders looking after one to three children. These are often the most vulnerable and require a solution.

Secondly, it must be recognised that the Welfare Department is extremely short staffed. It has a wide scope of work and can barely cope with the demands on it. It has been recognised that monitoring and enforcement by the Welfare Department, even of registered childcare centres, are limited. There is need to dramatically improve staffing at the Welfare Department so that it can support the many social needs in the country. While we work to increase numbers, the quality of its staff also requires serious improvement. We need to invest in large numbers of trained social workers and not depend on those who have to learn on-the-job after leaving school.

Thirdly, there must be a mechanism to report all unregistered childcare centres and childminders. While it would appear logical to enforce the law and shut down all unregistered childcare centres, finding the thousands of them may be an issue. Parents desperate for childcare tend to keep quiet. Many centres do not get registered due to the need to meet the requirements of training and standards. Perhaps we can work with both the Association of Registered Childcare Providers Malaysia and the Welfare Department to work on upgrading these unregistered centres progressively. That is, offer an opportunity to meet requirements over time and not all at once, in addition to offering support to obtain training.

Finally, the best childminder is a parent. Our young parents both work to make ends meet in the face of the rising cost of living. Employers need to invest their profits into their employees and not just into their major shareholders. Many industrialised countries pay better wages to allow only one parent to work. Others offer longer periods of paid leave to parents, even up to two years.

We as a nation need to invest in our young families and their children. The growth and success of our nation cannot be measured by its financial success alone but also by the well-being of its people. – July 22, 2018.

* Amar-Singh is a senior consultant paediatrician.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.