KUCHING: Childcare centres (Taska) and kindergartens (Tadika) operating illegally in the state have been advised to register their operations with the authorities.
Deputy Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Development Datuk Rosey Yunus said this is not only to prioritise the safety of children but also to establish a standardised curriculum, employ certified teachers, and maintain a conducive learning environment.
“We want them to register as we want to have a quality product later on, these children are our nation’s assets.
“These facilities are handling our children, and we really want them to provide a proper curriculum as well as environment. But some of them (Taksa and Tadika) just don’t want to go through the hassle of filling up the form and all the procedures,” she said after a visit to Taska Bimbingan Cahaya at Swee Joo Park here today.
Rosey said in Kuching only, there were a total of 39 unregistered childcare centres.
“Of this, a total of 32 are in the process of registering bus as for another seven, we have yet to know their status,” she revealed.
On a related note, Rosey said childcare centres who have yet to get registered, will get a compound and warning letter.
“If the childcare centre is registered, the supervision will come under our ministry and they will also get the RM5,000 special annual grant (GTK) for Early Childhood Education Institutions to meet their operational costs,” she said.
Meanwhile, on her visit to Taska Bimbingan Cahaya, Rosey said she was impressed with the childcare centre’s standard operating procedure.
“This is what we want to see in our childcare centres. There are health check ups done by the teachers before the children enter the centre besides also having a digital attendance system.
“In terms of their activities, we are also really impressed by how they run their curriculum and learning environment,” she said.
