KUALA LUMPUR – Police will screen all childcare workers registered with the Social Welfare Department (SWD) as a part of the new standard operating procedure (SOP) to ensure the safety of children at registered childcare centres in the country.
Women, Family, and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri (Santubong-GPS) said that the ministry is working with the Royal Malaysia Police to conduct a security screening process on childcare workers to ensure that they do not have any criminal records.
Additionally, the ministry also made it compulsory for childcare centres to notify parents if their child is absent without notice 30 minutes after class begins.
“We advise parents to send their children to childcare centres that are registered with the SWD. We have imposed these SOPs not to make matters difficult for childcare centres but to help them and to ensure the safety of the children.
“That is why we also ensure that each childcare centre has working CCTV installed to allow us to monitor (what is happening inside the centres),” Nancy told the Dewan Rakyat today.
She said this during the Minister’s Question Time, in response to a supplementary question from Fong Kui Lun (Bukit Bintang-PH) about the ministry’s efforts to prevent child abuse in childcare centres.
“We will ensure that childcare workers and operators are qualified to care for these children,” she said.
Earlier, in response to Siti Mastura Muhammad’s (Kepala Batas-PN) question about the establishment of workplace childcare centres, Nancy said the ministry encourages employers in the public and private sectors to establish childcare centres at workplaces, but they must be registered with the SWD.
She said that as of December 2023, 265 childcare centres have been established at workplaces nationwide, with 221 in the public sector and 44 in the private sector.
Nancy noted that the SWD monitors all childcare centres in Malaysia, but they are operated by the private sector.
“The ministry encourages employers to establish childcare centres in the workplace to support parents and encourage them to be more committed to their work, resulting in better work services and increased productivity.
“Any government or private agency that wishes to establish a childcare centre should contact the nearest SWD for guidance on process and procedure requirements,” she said. – March 27, 2023