Kota Kinabalu: State Women, Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk Julita Majungki urged parents to prioritise registered childcare centres (taska) to ensure safety and wellbeing of their children.
She said a total of 95 childcare centres in the State were found operating without a licence.
She said, however, most of these centres were already in the process of registering and waiting for approval or renewal of licences from local authorities. She said several were pending approval due to stricter conditions from the local authorities as well as agencies such as the Fire and Rescue Department.
Nevertheless, Julita advised parents to send their children only to registered childcare centres as they offer another level of protection against abuse or mishandling of care, compared with those running illegally.
She explained that registered childcare centres were bound by strict rules and regulations prior to operating, as well as during their daily operations.
She said this after closing the State-level Taska Day, near here.
Julita said there was a dire lack of childcare centres in Sabah as only 230 licensed childcare centres were operating statewide currently.
She said according to statistics, Sabah’s children aged 0-4 were expected to reach 445,000 people by 2030.
“This means we need at least 110,000 spots in taska statewide to cater to these demands by then,” she said, adding that investment in early childhood education was vital for a child’s growth and human capital development.
In stressing the importance of choosing registered childcare centres, she said safety at these centres were more guaranteed as there would be regular monitoring from the authorities.
Julita said the incidents of abuse at childcare centres reported in the news recently, shows the importance of choosing the right centres for children to be taken care of while their parents are at work.
In Sabah, childcare centres are required to fulfil and adhere to rules under the Child Care Centre Act 1993, failing which could risk operators having their premises sealed, being issued a compound, or facing court prosecution.
