Daycare centres are inadequate in number, facilities
Tuesday, 18 December 2007
Shamim Ara Begum
NIJUM, a three-year-old toddler, gets up in the morning only to find his parents out of the house for works. He hardly sees his parents together in the morning. The workplaces of Nijum's parents are situated near their house. So, they can come home for lunch giving Nijum a chance to see his mom and dad together for a while.
Nijuni has to spend all day long with a housemaid. He even does not get the good company of his parents in the evening because they get back home tired. Even then they do their best to coordinate between their jobs and the kid. But, they are unable to give adequate time to their son he needs for his natural mental growth. The adverse impact is clear. At three, Nijum cannot speak clearly and hardly can reply to any question.
The condition of Hema, a three and half-year-old tot, is worse than Nijum. Both of her parents are physicians. Hema's mom and dad can barely spare any time for their daughter. Apart from doing the regular jobs, the dad has private practice while her mom is pursuing her higher study. Since there is no daycare centre available in their neighbourhood, a maid looks after Hema. By the time she has developed stubbornness in her behaviour, perhaps for spending time lonely. In Bangladesh, the number of families with both husband and wife working is now higher than ever before. At present, there are much more working women as the number of educated and ambitious women is growing. Then, among other reasons, comes the change of lifestyle.
According to Bangladesh Labour Force survey 2002-2003, about 10 million women over the age of 15 are engaged in different professions. A significant number of this labour force is working in the garment sector, the country's highest foreign currency earner. Over 90 per cent of the garment workers are women.
Many of the working women have small children. They have to rely on housemaids to look after their kids while they are away. Therefore, it is necessary to set up adequate number of quality daycare centres both at government and private levels so that women can get to work without concern for their kids. Unfortunately, this matter has got little attention.
As per the National Labour Act 2006, there should be a daycare centre for children in an organisation where 40 women work. But, few organisations do have any daycare centre. Then again, most of the centres already established at government and private levels are based in capital Dhaka. Although there is a demand for quality daycare centres in other cities and towns, there is no initiative in sight to meet the demand.
There are some daycare centres in different cities, including Dhaka, but questions arise when it comes to their standard as most of the centres lack proper environment, trained nurses, cleanliness and adequate rooms.
Although a huge number of women are employed in the garment sector, most of the garment factories have no daycare centre. In June 2007, Karmajibi Nari, an NGO, conducted a survey on 55 garment factories and found daycare centres only in 15 of them. Arifa Akhter Anu, a coordinator of the organisation, says, "Most of the 15 centres are not suitable for kids as those have been set up only to maintain formalities and attract foreign buyers."
Thirty-two daycare centres have so far been set up under government initiatives for the children of working women belonging to lower and middle classes. Of them, six centres, designed particularly for the middle class women, are situated in Dhaka. This means there is no centre for the middle class working women outside the capital. Of the reaming 26 centres set up for the lower class women, seven are in Dhaka, five in divisional towns and 14 are in district towns.
The above statistics indicate that the government initiative in this regard is not encouraging. Even worse, there is no adequate manpower in the government daycare centres. The children are not properly taken care of So, parents are getting reluctant to make use of the facilities at these centres.
It is clear that working women feel the necessity of daycare centres, but they cannot use them as they hardly find them in their own workplaces. Working women barely feel encouraged to keep their kids in the existing daycare centres and many of them are being compelled to give up their jobs to take care of their children.
According to psychologists, a child needs mother's company more than dad for his or her proper mental growth. If there is a daycare centre in one's workplace, it is good for both the child and mother, as the mother gets mental peace for being close to the kid and can be more attentive to her work. This also makes the child happy. The kids who are taken care of by maids develop various problems. Zahir Uddin, a psychologist of National Mental Health Institute, says, "If a child is kept in care of a quality daycare centre instead of a maid, he or she will stay much better both physically and mentally. At this, the child gets the opportunity to grow in a pleasant environment with the kids of his own age and different age groups."
Farah Deeba, assistant professor of Clinical Psychology Department at Dhaka University, thinks a daycare centre has been essential for the well-being of mothers and children. If a child is kept in the centre belonging to a mother's workplace, he himself stays well and helps the mom to remain happy too.
Emphasising the importance of having daycare centres in mothers' own workplaces for unhindered mental growth of children, Zahir and Deeba say these centres should be made suitable for the children and attention needs to be given to adequate rooms, trained nurses and cleanliness so that the kids stay safe, sound and cheerful.
Shawkat Ali, an official of the Women Affairs Department dealing with daycare centre activities, says, "Much more emphasis is needed on the daycare centre issue for the progress of working women and the welfare of their kids."
Elina Khan, executive director of Human Rights Implementation Organisation, says, "Establishing daycare centre in every government and private organisation will have to be made mandatory for protecting the interests of mothers and children. So, initiatives need to be taken to resolve the problem to make the best use of women's potentials and talents in nation-building activities."
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NIJUM, a three-year-old toddler, gets up in the morning only to find his parents out of the house for works. He hardly sees his parents together in the morning. The workplaces of Nijum's parents are situated near their house. So, they can come home for lunch giving Nijum a chance to see his mom and dad together for a while.
Nijuni has to spend all day long with a housemaid. He even does not get the good company of his parents in the evening because they get back home tired. Even then they do their best to coordinate between their jobs and the kid. But, they are unable to give adequate time to their son he needs for his natural mental growth. The adverse impact is clear. At three, Nijum cannot speak clearly and hardly can reply to any question.
The condition of Hema, a three and half-year-old tot, is worse than Nijum. Both of her parents are physicians. Hema's mom and dad can barely spare any time for their daughter. Apart from doing the regular jobs, the dad has private practice while her mom is pursuing her higher study. Since there is no daycare centre available in their neighbourhood, a maid looks after Hema. By the time she has developed stubbornness in her behaviour, perhaps for spending time lonely. In Bangladesh, the number of families with both husband and wife working is now higher than ever before. At present, there are much more working women as the number of educated and ambitious women is growing. Then, among other reasons, comes the change of lifestyle.
According to Bangladesh Labour Force survey 2002-2003, about 10 million women over the age of 15 are engaged in different professions. A significant number of this labour force is working in the garment sector, the country's highest foreign currency earner. Over 90 per cent of the garment workers are women.
Many of the working women have small children. They have to rely on housemaids to look after their kids while they are away. Therefore, it is necessary to set up adequate number of quality daycare centres both at government and private levels so that women can get to work without concern for their kids. Unfortunately, this matter has got little attention.
As per the National Labour Act 2006, there should be a daycare centre for children in an organisation where 40 women work. But, few organisations do have any daycare centre. Then again, most of the centres already established at government and private levels are based in capital Dhaka. Although there is a demand for quality daycare centres in other cities and towns, there is no initiative in sight to meet the demand.
There are some daycare centres in different cities, including Dhaka, but questions arise when it comes to their standard as most of the centres lack proper environment, trained nurses, cleanliness and adequate rooms.
Although a huge number of women are employed in the garment sector, most of the garment factories have no daycare centre. In June 2007, Karmajibi Nari, an NGO, conducted a survey on 55 garment factories and found daycare centres only in 15 of them. Arifa Akhter Anu, a coordinator of the organisation, says, "Most of the 15 centres are not suitable for kids as those have been set up only to maintain formalities and attract foreign buyers."
Thirty-two daycare centres have so far been set up under government initiatives for the children of working women belonging to lower and middle classes. Of them, six centres, designed particularly for the middle class women, are situated in Dhaka. This means there is no centre for the middle class working women outside the capital. Of the reaming 26 centres set up for the lower class women, seven are in Dhaka, five in divisional towns and 14 are in district towns.
The above statistics indicate that the government initiative in this regard is not encouraging. Even worse, there is no adequate manpower in the government daycare centres. The children are not properly taken care of So, parents are getting reluctant to make use of the facilities at these centres.
It is clear that working women feel the necessity of daycare centres, but they cannot use them as they hardly find them in their own workplaces. Working women barely feel encouraged to keep their kids in the existing daycare centres and many of them are being compelled to give up their jobs to take care of their children.
According to psychologists, a child needs mother's company more than dad for his or her proper mental growth. If there is a daycare centre in one's workplace, it is good for both the child and mother, as the mother gets mental peace for being close to the kid and can be more attentive to her work. This also makes the child happy. The kids who are taken care of by maids develop various problems. Zahir Uddin, a psychologist of National Mental Health Institute, says, "If a child is kept in care of a quality daycare centre instead of a maid, he or she will stay much better both physically and mentally. At this, the child gets the opportunity to grow in a pleasant environment with the kids of his own age and different age groups."
Farah Deeba, assistant professor of Clinical Psychology Department at Dhaka University, thinks a daycare centre has been essential for the well-being of mothers and children. If a child is kept in the centre belonging to a mother's workplace, he himself stays well and helps the mom to remain happy too.
Emphasising the importance of having daycare centres in mothers' own workplaces for unhindered mental growth of children, Zahir and Deeba say these centres should be made suitable for the children and attention needs to be given to adequate rooms, trained nurses and cleanliness so that the kids stay safe, sound and cheerful.
Shawkat Ali, an official of the Women Affairs Department dealing with daycare centre activities, says, "Much more emphasis is needed on the daycare centre issue for the progress of working women and the welfare of their kids."
Elina Khan, executive director of Human Rights Implementation Organisation, says, "Establishing daycare centre in every government and private organisation will have to be made mandatory for protecting the interests of mothers and children. So, initiatives need to be taken to resolve the problem to make the best use of women's potentials and talents in nation-building activities."
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