Fatimah: JKM fast-track for 38 nurseries this year

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KUCHING: The state Welfare Department (JKM) is confident that it will be able to register a total of 38 nurseries throughout the state within this year.

Currently, 57 nursery operators are still in the midst of various evaluation processes involving agencies such as the Land and Survey Department, Fire and Rescue Department, Health Department, Local Council
and the state Welfare Department.

“It is very important that a nursery is registered with JKM as it guarantees safety and quality childcare services,” said Minister of Welfare, Women and Family Development Datuk Fatimah Abdullah during a press conference at her office yesterday.

Fatimah earlier chaired a meeting with the heads from each JKM divisional departments and various agencies which will be providing the technical support for the One Stop Registration Centre (OSRC) which was mooted by the ministry in 2012.

OSRC’s main objective, she added, is to encourage more nursery operators to come forward and apply for a legitimate licence to run their centres.

She said the registration and licence approval would take less than four months as the evaluation processes by the relevant authorities would be done simultaneously to avoid any delays.

“The OSRC is available at all JKM divisional departments to provide ease of registration and a place for the operators to obtain vital information on the processes and criteria to set up a proper nursery,” said Fatimah, who is also Dalat assemblywoman.

A nursery, she added, is an important support system for parents who have to send their child to a care provider when they are at work.

“As nurseries are meant for children below four years old, these centres play a vital role to develop and mould a child in this age group whose brains are more receptive towards learning,” she added.

At a registered nursery, qualified parents would also be provided with a government subsidy of RM250 for the
nursery fee while their child would stand to receive a one-off payment of RM100 every year, she added.

“The parents however must fulfil a certain set of criteria to their monthly salary such as those earning below RM3,000 a month or have a per capita of below RM900,” said Fatimah.

She explained that per capita is based on a formula that divides a parent’s (monthly) salary to the number of children.

Meanwhile, Fatimah is urging the relevant authority to relax or amend the policies regarding the approval of setting up of a nursery in a shop house, especially if the unit is already in use by a college or a training institution.

She also hoped the policy can be amended within the next three months, including the criteria and recommendations for the nursery’s floor and exit plans.

This would encourage more nursery operators to set up nurseries at the workplace, she added.

“We currently have six nurseries at the workplace and we are happy to note that several others are in the pipeline,” she said.

She said the existing nurseries are at the Federal Complex building at Simpang Tiga, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Yayasan Sarawak, Wisma Wanita, Sibu Prison and IKBN Miri.

The upcoming nurseries at workplaces are at RTM Kuching, Chief Minister’s Office, Miri Hospital, Kapit Hospital, Bintulu Hospital, LHDN Bintulu, UPM Bintulu, Sigma College, ILP Miri and SMK Subis, she added.