When daycare centres don’t care

Pushpa Girimaji

I am a working mother with a year-old child. On the recommendation of a neighbour, I started leaving my child at a nearby daycare centre. For one month, everything seemed alright. Then, a couple of days ago, when I went to pick up my daughter, I was shocked to find her with a bandage on her head. The person in charge said she had fallen down from the chair and suffered a cut requiring stitches, but they had not even cared to inform me. I accused them of being careless but they blamed my child! I also now learn from a few parents who have pulled out their children from the crèche that the children get beaten at the crèche if they cry. I have now stopped sending my child there, but would like to take action against it so that other children do not suffer like me. Where do I complain?

Please lodge a complaint with the police and ask them to investigate into your child’s injury. Did she really fall from a chair? Even if she did, how could she get an injury serious enough to require stitches? It is also possible that the child was beaten up, resulting in the injury. The police need to probe and take appropriate action against the crèche.

Even if the child fell down accidentally and hurt herself, it speaks volumes about the neglect of the child at the child care centre and you need to haul them up before the consumer court constituted under the Consumer Protection Act. This will not only force the crèche management to pay more attention to the safety of children left under their care, but also send out a signal to other such centres that parents will not condone such negligence. Use your complaint before the police as well as the statements of other people who have complained to you about the crèche in your evidence. You should also lodge a complaint against it with the State Commission for Protection of Child rights. If the centre is abusing children, it must be closed down.

I have to find another child care centre for my daughter and this time I want to be doubly sure of its quality. How do I check this out? Is there any government recognition or certification for these centres?

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has formulated guidelines for private playschools for children in the age group of three to six years. The guidelines not only prescribe standards for playschools, but also provide for registration and certification of such schools.

However, I have not come across similar attempts to regulate crèches or child care centres meant for toddlers. In the last couple of years, following reports of abuse and criminal neglect of very young children left at these centres, several states promised stringent regulation and some states even issued draft guidelines, but obviously these promises have not translated into action because one sees child care centres being run without any kind of quality control or regulation.

In fact, there is an urgent need to draw up a comprehensive law for their regulation. The law should include standards for building and equipment, hygiene and sanitation, kitchen and food, qualification and training of care givers, the ratio of children and care givers, safety protocol to be followed, emergency evacuation procedures, etc. And no child care centre should be allowed to run without proper registration and recognition. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights should draw up a model law that can be adopted by all the states. And the State Commissions should monitor or oversee their enforcement.

Many countries around the world have such laws governing these centres. In Australia, for example, the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority monitors the implementation of the National Quality Framework across the country. We need to have a similar legislation with a built-in penal provision for violations.

And until the regulatory mechanism is in place, parents need to not only do a thorough background check of these centres, but also have a system of online monitoring of the children. More importantly, parents who leave their children at these centres should form associations and take turns to keep an eye on the centre. This would ensure that the children remain safe.