KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 — Putrajaya has prepared a babysitter’s quality checklist, to help parents make informed decisions when they are seeking home-based caretakers for their children.
Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Hannah Yeoh said that the list is in the form of an infographic, which will act as a guide for parents.
“To help parents who will send their children to babysitters’ homes, the ministry has prepared a quality checklist for home-based babysitters in the form of an infographic, which can be used as a guide, before and after sending their children to babysitters.
“The Association of Registered Childcare Providers Malaysia (PPBM), Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) and several specialist doctors are also involved in producing this infographic,” Yeoh said in a statement.
The Segambut MP said that the system is a temporary measure while the ministry completes a more comprehensive vetting system.
Yeoh also advised parents to be vigilant at all times, and to report any suspicious activities in their children’s daycare centres to the ministry, via Talian Kasih, at 15999.
In the statement, Yeoh said that there are almost 90 per cent of daycare centres which are yet to be registered under the ministry, adding that the lack of qualified babysitters, also affects registered centres.
She said that the country is currently in need of 33,000 daycare centres.
“The 2010 national statistics in 2010 estimates that the number of children aged between zero and four years-old in 2018 would be 2.3 million people.
“Based on this statistic if we assume that 50 per cent of the children in Malaysia who are between zero and four years old are in need of daycare centres, then our country needs 38,333 daycare centres to cater to the number of children,” Yeoh said.
Currently, she said there are only 4,378 registered daycare centres.
