KUALA LUMPUR: Personality and aptitude tests for babysitters and daycare staff are among the measures to be taken to protect children following widely publicised cases of abuse at such facilities, says Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
The Women, Family, and Community Development Minister said that rules on CCTVs for these facilities will be amended to ensure blanket surveillance of all areas except for changing rooms and bathrooms.
Specialised officers from the newly-established Child Development Department will also be stationed at each district to monitor all centres and ensure that these rules are enforced, she told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Nancy also said the ministry was working on programmes to empower communities and neighbourhoods to stop child abuse at home.
She announced these measures following a question from Tebrau MP Jimmy Puah (PH-Tebrau) on what the government is doing to tackle rising reports of child abuse cases and the types of assistance for victims.
“The ministry’s Welfare Department will discuss with the Home Ministry and police the proposal to make background checks mandatory for those being hired as babysitters,” Nancy told the House.
“The candidates as well as taska operators will be required to undergo a psychometric test, which will assess their mental health and attitudes towards their occupation.
“This is to ensure that the candidates are compatible with handling children.”
The ministry will also deal with loopholes in CCTV rules for these centres to ensure that the facilities do not have blind spots.
“For example, the rules do not specify the number of cameras that need to be installed or the data storage of the recordings,” she added.
Among the new rules for CCTVs in daycare centres are that operators must ensure that there are no blind spots in their coverage.
“Surveillance will exempt private areas such as toilets and changing rooms.
“The operators must ensure that CCTVs are functioning throughout the day, even if there is only one child at the centre,” she said.
These rules will be enforced through surprise visits by specialised teams working under the Child Development Department.
“We will place officers in each district whose sole purpose is to monitor all centres in the area and to ensure that the rules are enforced.”
“The placement will involve 43 districts identified as high-risk areas, and we will implement it this year,” she said.
In efforts to reduce child abuse at home, Nancy said the ministry is going to increase awareness programmes as well as advocate for child protection and empower local communities.
This includes the Child Protection Advocacy Programme launched on Sept 18 to spread awareness among children, parents, teachers and the community about safe and unsafe contact and children’s rights.
The programme also educates children on the safe use of the Internet and what to do if they experience abuse.
The ministry is also strengthening the district Child Protection Team (PPKK), launched in 2001 under the National Children Council.
“We are finalising the collaboration with the Rural and Regional Development Ministry to get Village Development and Security Committee chairpersons to also contribute to the PPKK,” she added.
Nancy said that the priority for victims of child abuse is to place them in the care of their family members.
“For us, growing up in an institution centre is the last resort,” she said.
Nancy added that it was up to the courts to determine the punishments for child abuse.
“It will depend on the court as to how the case will be judged.
“Apart from that, there are many of those who are neighbours who have reported cases of abuse to the authorities,” she added.
