PETALING JAYA: Alarmed at the large number of child abuse and neglect cases involving childcare providers and maids, parents want the authorities to clamp down on centres that are not registered or unlicensed.
They also want the government to make sure that those who are taking care of children have proper credentials.
“The authorities must ensure that caretakers and those running childcare centres have the proper qualification. There must also be training for these care workers to make sure they are skilled and can look after children.
“I think it is also important to mandate that childcare centre owners and workers get mentally and psychologically tested. This is extremely important as managing children requires one to be in the best of mental health,” said working mother Prema Jayabalan.
Regular checks on the centres by welfare officers should also be a practice, she added.
“Conducting spot checks on these centres will help expose misdeeds and nip any problem in the bud. Punishment has to be stringent even for the smallest case of neglect and abuse,” said Prema who has a nine-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son.
Amir Shariff, who has a three-year-old daughter in daycare, feels that there should be more “checks and balances” to ensure that childcare centres are legitimate and follow guidelines.
“We do not know what measures are in place to determine who is able to take care of children. Maybe these procedures should be more apparent ... a certification for both centres and personnel to make sure that everyone and every facility has a basic standard of operations and care-giving.
“As a parent, I am concerned and worried about the rise in cases of child abuse and neglect. As my wife and I both work, we rely on caretakers to help mind our child,” he said, adding that cleanliness was also a top priority.
Edmund Tan is “extremely anxious” to read about cases of child abuse and neglect among child minders and he has been very vigilant in looking for a daycare centre for his two-year-old daughter.
“I make sure the place is registered and the trainers are properly qualified. It’s not cheap but at least I am at ease knowing that my daughter in a centre that is accredited,” he said, adding that among the criteria he looked for were registration status, the teacher-child ratio and reviews from other parents.
However, not all parents have the advantage of choosing the best centres. Some parents in the B40 community said they had to choose daycare centres they could afford and close to home.
“My household income is RM2,500 and I can’t afford centres that charge more than RM200 a month per child as I have two young children. I send them to a lady in our flats who babysits two other children. There is a taska nearby but it is full and can’t take in more children. Others are too far away and, as I don’t have a car or motorcycle.
“Of course I worry about my children, especially after I see videos of children being hit. But what else can I do?” asked single mother Roziah Che Mat, a cleaner with four children.
Hanariza Safi, who works as a cook in a restaurant, said that the “frightening” number of abuse cases had led her to take her children out of their former daycare centre.
“The reports give me nightmares and I couldn’t work in peace, worrying if my children would be safe. My neighbours feel the same. Most of us now leave our children with relatives or neighbours. Even though I have to take my daughter by bus to my mother’s home, I feel more at peace now,” she said.