KUCHING: The state government is committed to provide a supportive and conducive ecosystem to ensure the well-being and mental health of children and families.
Targeted initiatives and programmes, functional governance and participation of the community are therefore vital, said Women, Early Childhood and Community Well-being Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah.
She said it is timely to have the 15th International Conference on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (ICCAP2023) here.
“This conference provides researchers, academics, and practitioners an ideal platform to congregate, share information and discuss their scientific results and experiences to address psychopathology and related issues affecting our vulnerable children and adolescents in Malaysia and other countries.
“At the localised level, the Sarawak government, through our ministry, is committed to provide a supportive and conducive ecosystem to ensure the well-being of children and families,” she reiterated.
She was speaking at the closing of ICCAP2023 at Pullman Hotel today.
Among the initiatives by the state government that Fatimah mentioned is the post-natal assistance of RM450 allocated for mothers.
In addition, each child is entitled to RM1,000 from the Endowment Fund Sarawak (EFS) for them to save until the age of 18.
“From 2019 until July 31 this year, 100,202 Sarawak children owned EFS accounts, with RM100.2 million spent by the state government for this purpose.
“To enhance early education and care, the state government provides special grants of RM5,000 per year to registered preschool education providers since 2019.
“This serves to provide healthy and balanced food, fun learning and digitisation of early childhood education, parental involvement programmes and educator’s professional development course,” said Fatimah.
She also said that through this programmes last year, RM14.565 million was spent on Geran Tahunan Khas (GTK) benefiting 67,723 children in Sarawak.
Other than that, Fatimah also said the state government has allocated RM2.5 million in annual grants to subsidise payment of preschool fees amounting to RM1,000 per family per annum, commencing this year.
This is to lighten the financial burden of eligible low-income and mid-income families, who send their children to private nurseries or kindergarten.
“As an inclusive initiative, a One-Stop Early Intervention Centre (OSEIC) was established in 2020 to provide access for the diagnosis, early intervention, and rehabilitation of special needs children below swven years old in Matang.
“Another OSEIC in a rural setting is in operation since May this year in Dalat and soon another one will be set up in Miri catering for the northern region of Sarawak,” she added.
