Sending Your Kids To Kindergarten? Read This

Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE) or, Pendidikan dan Penjagaan Kanak-Kanak Awal.

Allow me to write this in BI, not that I can't in BM, but I hope by writing this in BI, it will reach more audience. First of all, it is regrettable to found out what happened to the beloved adik Adam and like any other human being, I too, feel equally disgusted and sad. Let's leave out the blaming game aside and appeal to our humanity for once.

Interestingly, only 61% care about proper licensing and only 53% care about staffs' qualifications.

Well, pertaining to that issue, allow me to give some insights to a more general overview of the ECCE situation in Malaysia, especially. I like to write about current issues but being a scientist I am, I like to look at things objectively and I hope you can too.

In the 2015, kiddy123 conducted a survey of which the sample size is 570 parents. The samples were collected from the exhibition booths and through their website. It is safe to assume that the people who participated in this have good access to internet and information and are most probably urban folks.

As long as the parents know that the caretakers can be trusted, everything else is nearly unnecessary.

What intrigued me are the factors in choosing the ECCE centre for their kids. at 77%, most parents were concerned about the safety precautions; now this is not elaborated in details as to what it means, but by observing other factors and assuming every factor has a distinct difference and independent of each other, it can be hypothesised that safety here may be subjectively interpreted; from the trust the parents have for the centre, hearsay, assurance from connections or the centre itself, crime density in the area, to the practice of the educators and caretakers.

Interestingly, only 61% care about proper licensing and only 53% care about staffs' qualifications. this is the urbanites we are talking about. The Child Care Center Act 1984 dictates that every ECCE centre has to be licensed. in 2007, an amendment to the Act had been done in order to further ease ECCE centre licensing. The categories have been increased from 2 to 4 and the license period is lengthen from 12 months to 60 months. The training that the caretakers have to attend is just the Basic Child Care Course, which has not been amended since 1980. 

It is worth to note that ECCE, thus everything that revolves around it was never a part of the nation's educational plan, but just a step to empower women participation in the labour force. That being said, there's no governed curriculum for this age group. 

According to Chiam, H. K. (2015), over the years, the number of the licensed centre has declined, although the existing known centres registered with Department of Social Welfare have not. in 2007 for example, only 306 centres were licensed out of the known 2,176, that's only 14%! And let's be frank, we know somebody who runs a centre without even registering it to the DoSW and if we were to add that numbers, the percentage of registered centres would be lower.

These 'centres' are usually run by neighbours or family members, as shown by Md-Yunus, S. (2013). As long as the parents know that the caretakers can be trusted, everything else is nearly unnecessary. This includes proper licensing and caretakers' qualifications. What is more saddening is, this kind of centre is preferred by Bumiputeras more than it is by Chinese and Indians. 

The Child Care Center Act 1984 dictates that every ECCE centre has to be licensed

Hence, based on these studies, it can be seen that parents in Malaysia, Bumiputera especially, do not emphasize those two paramount factors in choosing the centres they want to send their children to. They hang on onto a more intangible factor and in a way, gambling with the future of their children.

What are the risks of sending children to unlicensed centres and unqualified personnel?

1. Safety of the children as the personnel are not well-trained and knowledgeable

2. Improper curriculum and teacher-centric learning

3. Lack of safety measures

4. Lack of reactive and proactive actions

5. Increase in communicable diseases as a result of improper adherence to guidelines and untrained employees

ECCE has been taught in universities for some years now and these graduates have the right qualifications to actually care for your children. In order to tackle this problem, a multi-level actions have to be taken. 

in 2007 for example, only 306 centres were licensed out of the known 2,176

First, we have to change our mindset and our definition of 'safe'. We should factor in qualifications and licensing in that definition. Parents should always opt for proper centres instead of choosing based on recommendations of friends and family, moreover if the centre is not licensed and unqualified. 

Secondly, strict regulations AND enforcement by the government. Now that the workforce in ECCE is 98% women, it is safe to say that the empowerment objective has been achieved. The government should focus on developing adequate regulations, guidelines, and curriculum for these children.

Next, control the minimum wage of caretakers, qualified caretakers especially. These grads are trained for 3-4 years solely to take care of young children, and imagine how discouraging it is to find out their wages is just 3 figures a month (especially in the unlicensed or public centres). With the level of stress to keep up with the living needs, it is a no brainer why a qualified person can also sometimes break down and do unwanted things too.

Fourth, it's our duty, collectively. If you do know any unlicensed centres, advice them to go and apply for it, and if they don't have the proper qualifications, ask them to go and get it. Otherwise, you can and should report it to the DoSW.

After everything has been said and done, I would like to clarify that this is not victim blaming. I don't know the socioeconomic status of Adam's parents, nor do I know the status of the said caretaker, or whether the centre is licensed or not. This is just to open our eyes and ears to a worrying trend in our country. 

I know, "you don't have a kid yet, what do you know?" will be thrown right of the bat. You are right, I don't. But these researchers do. Numbers provided may not reflect the whole truth, but they don't lie either. 

So, this is all up to you. You know the numbers, you decide 

Reference:

https://www.indeed.com.my/salaries/Kindergarten-Teacher-Salaries

Sham'ah Md-Yunus (2013). [Malaysia] Early Education and Development in Malaysia: Issues and Challenges in Providing a Framework for a Multiethnic Society. rETRIEVED FROM https://www.childresearch.net/projects/ecec/2013_04.html

KIDDY123.com, Results of the Malaysia Early Childhood Care & Education Survey 2015. Retrieved from https://www.kiddy123.com/article/results-of-the-malaysia-early-childhood-care-education-survey-2015.html

Chiam, H.K. ICEP (2008) 2: 31.https://doi.org/10.1007/2288-6729-2-2-31