The New Nation - Internet Edition

Farizaa Sabreen

In last few years, we have seen major changes in work and family life. The most striking trend has been the increase in the number of married mothers of young children who are working in full- or part-time jobs.

In some neutral families, parents arrange their work schedules so that one of them is at home while the other is working. All other families rely on relatives, friends, and childcare programs to provide a safe place and a stimulating environment for their children while parents are at work.

For the working couples of Dhaka the search for quality, affordable child care confronts formidable obstacles: a lack of information; fees that stretch family budgets, often to the breaking point; the poor quality of many programs. The goal of this primer is to help you find quality childcare and give you some ideas about what you can do to expand and improve the supply of quality child care for all families.

Talk to relatives, friends, neighbors, and colleagues at work about their own child care arrangements and experiences. While choosing a day care centre, look for the basic ingredients of quality: a safe, protective environment; the opportunity for your child to form stable relationships with caring adults and other children; and adequate stimulation that is appropriate to your child's age.

Once you have identified several child care alternatives, visit each program, observe it carefully, and talk to the adults who will provide care.

Providers you meet should invite you to drop in at the childcare program at any time and encourage you to take part in activities and decisions about the program. Day care centres should be safe, and designed to encourage children to engage in different activities, both alone and with other children. Look for fences around outside play areas and well constructed playground equipment on a surface. Dangerous and toxic substances should be locked out of children's reach and electrical outlets and radiators should be covered. Cleanliness is the most important thing to avoid the spread of infectious disease. Children and adults should wash their hands before eating, after touching their mouths and noses and after toileting. In addition, staff should wash before feeding, handling food, diapering, and washing surfaces. The identity of the parent or guardian responsible for picking up the child should be well established with the caregiver or provider.

Licensing and Accreditation : Licensing requirements vary widely across the country. In fact, states often use "licensing," "registration," and "certification" interchangeably. Each state sets its own standards; both for family child care and for child care centers. The program you choose should comply with your state rules. Contact your state day care licensing office for a copy of its regulations. The most important thing to know is that licensing is no guarantee of quality. You as a parent must be a vigilant consumer.

Communicating with your Child Care Provider: After you have selected a childcare program, your job is not over. A key component of quality is good communication between parent and provider, so you need to remain involved. Talk regularly with your provider about activities, your child's development and behavior, and any concerns either you or your provider may have. Drop in on the program at different times during the day to assess how things are going.

Paying for Child Care: One great paradox of child care is that the majority of parents find fees high but child care workers are among the lowest paid professionals in the country.

A great daycare center will go beyond merely letting you in and invite you to become part of the center's community by helping with activities, accompanying the children on field trips, and so on.

Curriculum: The best daycare centers have structured schedules that include plenty of time for physical activity, quiet time (including daily reading sessions for groups and individuals), group programs, individual activities, meals, snacks, and free time. TV and videos should play little or no part in what your child does all day; if videos are part of the curriculum, make sure they're age-appropriate and, ideally, somewhat educational, teaching about animals, other cultures, and so on. A well-thought-out curriculum stimulates your child's development and makes daily life more fun.

Atmosphere: Look for a center with a wide range of age-appropriate toys that will encourage your child's development and, as she gets older, stimulate creative, imaginative play. If you have to bring your child's food, find out the center's guidelines. Some may require you to pack only nutritious foods and that's okay. Centers that don't restrict candy or other sweets may not have your child's best interests at heart. If the center does have a food plan, find out what it serves at meal and snack times (and make sure the staff is aware of your child's food allergies, if any). Does it encourage healthy eating habits and cover all the food groups? If not, keep looking. Your child needs a place that offers a regular curriculum with a range of age-appropriate activities.

Staff: A trained, qualified staff is one advantage centers may have over nannies and home daycare providers, who don't always have specialized education. Daycare center employees should be educated, with at least two years of college, a background in early childhood development and other emergency training. Note how the staff interacts with the children. Caregivers should be responsible, enthusiastic, and well prepared. Look for a staff that shares your philosophies on sleep, discipline, feeding, and other care issues.

Cleanliness, safety: A good center is clean and sanitary. Floors, walks, walls, and the kitchen area should be clean, food preparation areas should be far from toilets and diaper changing stations, trash should be removed, and the building should be adequately heated, lit, and ventilated. Staff should wash their hands regularly, and after every diaper change. Look for plenty of space, too. The center should be secure, as well, so strangers can't just walk in off the street.

Look for a facility with an outdoor play area. Children should have the chance to play outside every day - running, jumping, and skipping are good for them physically, mentally, and socially. If you live in a city, where even the best centers may not have enough space for a safe outdoor play yard, make sure the center has a spacious indoor area.

YWCA: To provide pre-school care, quality schooling for young children, functional literacy classes for women YWCAs of Birisi, Dhaka, Chittagong, Comilla, Pabna, Barisal, Khulna, Jessore and Chandpur are running paid schools for 5927 children. Dhaka YWCA also has a Girls High School. 7 local YWCAs are running Free Schools for 1650 children from low-income families. The local YWCAs run functional literacy classes for women. Every year 500-6000 illiterate and poor women receive training. With financial assistance from Delta and NORAD, a four story building has been constructed and classes held successfully in Dhaka YWCA Girls High School, opened March 96.There are now 2382 children enrolled in the school and classes are held from play-group to class X. A free school for children of low income groups has also been started in the same building with 150 children in classes I to III, this has been expanded to 6 other local YWCAs who now also successfully run free schools for approx 1500 children. YWCA is also part of a cultural programme being carried out with Delta International. The SOS Children's Village Dhaka is situated on a main road leading out of the city to the north and consists of 15 family houses, an SOS Kindergarten, a community house and several additional buildings. There is a training workshop, a day-care centre for children of working mothers from the neighbourhood and an evening school. Since most of the children are Muslims, a small mosque was built inside the SOS Children's Village. A few Hindu children also live in the SOS Children's Village Dhaka. They are raised by the SOS mothers in their own religion. After the devastating storms and floods of 1991, a cyclone shelter was built in the city, which is also used as a mosque and as a communication centre for the local population. There is also an SOS Youth Village on the site of the SOS Children's Village, where the young people from all the SOS Children's Villages of Bangladesh can live during the time of their vocational and professional training. Here they learn to live independently and acquire professional skills, such as carpet weaving. Many useful things needed in the SOS Children's Village itself are produced at the Village workshop. Since 1986, there has also been an SOS Hermann Gmeiner School in Dhaka. Children from the SOS Village and the surrounding residential area are taught together. There was a great need for this school, since educational facilities are very limited in Bangladesh. The school was renamed SOS Hermann Gmeiner College Dhaka in 1995 and has acquired an excellent reputation as one of the country's best educational establishments.

Phulki: "Phulki" is an organisation which provides child care facilities to slum women and also helps set up crèche facilities in different organisations. It is devoted to develop the socio-economic conditions of the downtrodden people of Bangladesh. It extends assistance towards the disadvantaged ones, particularly to the children and mothers of the less privileged society. "Phulki" vows to serve only for the sake of development and strictly without any financial benefit. "Phulki" started with 30 children in two little rooms at Kalachanpur in 1990 through private funding. Presently it is undertaken in Kalachapur and Shajadpur with 25 childcare and development centres and 2 creches. "Phulki" is a member of BSAF (Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum), and with its support different organisations have also taken initiatives to start crèche or breast-feeding centre. With "Phulki's" help different garment factories- Bantai, Continental, Apparels, Style Craft Ltd, Phashmina, Immaculate, Kazi Fashion, Nahar Garments, Mohammadia Garments and Dragon started 24 day-care centres and 9 crèches. BRAC has crèche facilities for the staff at the headquarters with the help of "Phulki". BRAC started with 2 children from February 1997. It is not a separate department; the Gender Resource Centre takes care of it. It is now located in a rented house beside the BRAC centre building. To ensure the possibility of women's working ability BRAC has started their crèche and day care centre. They keep babies of 0-3 years because of their breast-feeding needs. At present they have 16 children with 4 attendants. Every attendant takes care of 3 children. The extra babies are here with special permission. Only the children of BRAC staff can stay here. The schedule of crèche is from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM in the working days. The fees are, for the office staff Taka 300 and for the office assistants Taka 50. Mothers are allowed to go there 3 or 4 times daily. They can preserve their breast-milk, which can be used within 8 hours. A chart is maintained for every infant for its breast-feeding schedule. A chart is also kept for the record of all injections, vaccination and allergic documents for all the babies. And they also have other necessary things for the babies.

Chhayanir: Chhayanir Day Care Centre nestled at Dhaka University. It accepts children between the ages of two and half years and five years. Priority is given to students, staff, and faculty of the varsity. Monthly fee is Tk.400 for varsity related parents and Tk.450 for outsiders.

Shishukunja: The centre is opened for three months old babies to eleven years old babies from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. It is established in 1994 by the supervision of Tamzida Akhtar. Address: 2/2 Lalmatia, Block-C.