It is one week since the untimely passing of two-month-old baby Qaseh Aulia in an unregistered daycare centre in Kota Damansara. It is also 5 years since five-month-old baby Adam Rayqal Muhd Sufi was found dead inside the refrigerator at his unregistered babysitters house which had been operating for 2 years prior to the agonising incident. My heart goes out to the parents and may they find peace and be comforted in this most painful time. No parent should ever have to go through such anguish and torment.
Abuse, neglect, maltreatment and even the death of children at the hands of babysitters from hell at childcare centres is nothing new in Malaysia and a troika of questions pop up after such a tragedy. How did an unregistered daycare continue to operate in broad daylight? How and where can one check if the childcare facility is registered or not? How do we prevent this painful calamity from happening again?
Childcare centres are given the green light to operate under the care of the Welfare Department or Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM) and with the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development as the custodian that authorises and approves the operation of these centres.
This is to mean, in principle, all daycare or childcare centres, ideally, should be registered under JKM. However, a quick check on the JKM website will show that the number of daycares or childcare centres operating are far less than if you searched for them on Google. For example, on the JKM website there is only ONE registered daycare centre under the category of “rumah” or house in the Perai Southern District or Seberang Perai Selatan (SPS) in Penang. But on page 1 of Google search alone, you will find 11 childcare centres – none of which was on the JKM website. A random check on the Malaysia Daycare Services Portal too showed only one daycare centre when you search for SPS – matching the same one on the JKM website.
It is simply impossible to believe that in SPS there is only ONE registered daycare operating from home when SPS has a population of more than 235,000.
Why is there such a great discrepancy in the number of registered daycare centres on the JKM website or is it not updated often? The Government, especially the Ministry encourages parents to use the JKM website as a guide to exploring and vetting childcare centres to send their children to. But what happens if they are faced with the “SPS” scenario? Will they not then source for daycare centres that are kind to their pockets and nearer to their homes but unlicensed and unregistered?
In the UK, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) is responsible for inspecting services providing education and skills for learners of all ages. They inspect, amongst others, childcare centres, regulate a range of early years and children’s social care services, making sure they’re suitable for children and potentially vulnerable young people, and reporting and publishing reports of findings so they can be used to improve the overall quality of education and training and also to inform policymakers about the effectiveness of these services. Ofsted reports directly to Parliament, parents, carers and commissioners.
While no system nor structure is perfect, Ofsted speaks volumes on its commitment centred around the best interest of the child and reflects how serious the Government is in ensuring that every child is protected under the law.
The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development must table the Social Work Profession Bill as soon as possible for social workers to act in their capacity to prevent abuses and violence against children, and ultimately the main goal of not leaving anyone behind.
The truth of the matter is that JKM is understaffed, running thin and have been working hard to fulfil the needs, wants and demands of their jobs and to go the extra mile with field work as well. When the bill becomes law, social workers can assist JKM officers by being their eyes and ears in monitoring, inspecting, observing errant childcare centres that are operating without approval from JKM or even those who have registered. Regular and unannounced spot checks have proven to be key in ensuring that these centres adhere and keep to the highest standards when a child is left in their care and custody.
Taking a practical approach also means that with a high cost of living, parents are pressured to leave their children with the daycare that may be unlicensed or unregistered that offers a much lower fee for looking after their children. Parents are forced to send their children there without a choice. There must be an improved approach by the Government on affordable childcare centres and also for workplaces to cater for childcare facilities so the parent can optimally perform at work while having peace of mind that their child is within their peripheral view. Adopt and adapt best practices according to international standards, like Ofsted, for example, that is serious about social justice from a bird’s eye point of view of child protection.
But all this cannot happen if there is no political will, no political capital to change the way we have been doing things, then I dread to think of the outcome involving registered and unregistered daycare centres quietly (or not quietly) operating away. However, It is not all upon the Government alone. The public has a role to play too. Query childcare facilities, dodgy or not and make a report to JKM and PDRM if there is a suspicion of abuse or neglect.
The passing of baby Qaseh Aulia Faizul, Adam Rayqal Muhd Sufi and many others must not be in vain, and we must play our parts to remind lawmakers, the Executive and the private sector on their responsibilities, duties and integrity to be protectors and guardians of all children.