SHAH ALAM: The government will discuss with the utility companies to help reduce the high operational costs of childcare centres soon, said Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Hannah Yeoh Tseow Suan.
She said this was necessary as the high utility bills was a major factor why many childcare centres were not registered as the operators could not afford the commercial charges imposed on them if they registered. “The childcare centres cannot impose high charges on the parents, so they have to bear the costs.
This could result in them ignoring the standard operating procedures and guidelines that have been set for childcare centres.
“So the ministry is working with the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Council and childminders associations to register the childcare centres which have still not registered and find a way for them to reduce their operational costs,” she said in her speech at the closing ceremony of the Management and Science University (MSU) Children’s Festival 2018 and the National Early Childhood Education Week here on Saturday.
Yeoh said the ministry was also drawing up a screening test to be taken by any person who wanted to be involved in the children education and care industry to ensure the children’s safety. “It would also ensure that childminders did not have a previous record as sexual offenders or abusers. “We will also be working closely with the police, courts and Prisons Department to get information on potential childminders through the screening tests,” she said.
Meanwhile, Yeoh said more than 20,000 child abuse cases were recorded in the last five years and the statistics showed that the offenders were the childminders, family members and individuals the children knew well.
She said the situation had to be curtailed as the possibility of the children committing the same offence as adults was high. She added that all parties must provide therapy and rehabilitation if they knew the children who had been abused so that they understand that the abuse was wrong and should not be repeated in the future.- Bernama
