Friday, 10th October 2008
Prime Minister insists Malta has adequate childcare facilities
If Malta decided to call its kindergartens childcare centres, the statistics on such places would instantly shoot up because here, kindergartens catered for three-year-olds whereas abroad they started from age five, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi argued yesterday.
Dr Gonzi was dismissing claims that, when compared to other countries, Malta had no childcare centres.
A European Commission report said Malta is one of the worst performers in the EU when it comes to the provision of childcare facilities for pre-school-aged children, adding that this is probably one of the main reasons why Malta has the highest percentage in Europe of women staying at home, instead of taking full part in the labour market.
It did not mean Malta has solved its problem of childcare facilities but the issue lies in the fact that kindergarten hours do not coincide with the working schedules of parents, Dr Gonzi said. Their flexibility, therefore, needs to be studied and improved, he said, adding that when such changes are made, Malta would have a system that was as good as any other.
He insisted that the government is all for childcare centres and is using EU funding to set up the required support, adding that he would even consider childcare centres to cater for parents who work at night as the need had recently been suggested to him by a nurse.
Dr Gonzi was addressing a conference on family-friendly measures, organised by the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin in collaboration with the Management and Personnel Office of the Office of the Prime Minister, an initiative he described as "innovative".
He said the government considers the issue to be "fundamental" and the "substance of all political activity".
Turning to women's participation rate in the labour market, he said those aged between 15 and 25 have surpassed the EU average by eight per cent - 48.4 per cent as opposed to 40.
Dr Gonzi said that 60 per cent of University graduates over the last four years were female, meaning the participation rate would continue to increase due to the high number of those who pursue their studies.
In the present "frightening" international context, Dr Gonzi said it has become more important than ever to adhere to family-friendly policies and to do everything possible to safeguard jobs and help employees cope with their responsibilities. The country cannot afford to lose a single human resource, he said.
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Comments
Why should school-time in Malta coincide with those in other countries????? Perhaps you can find some sensible reason for that?
The important thing is that school-hours made up of teaching input is higher in Malta than anywhere else in Europe.
Perhaps you expect school to open and close to coincide (whatever for!) with schools in the UK, Finland, etc .... where there is a climate different from that found in Malta?
It's not only "the fact that kindergarten hours do not coincide with the working schedules of parents" as Dr Gonzi admitted, but also the fact that SCHOOL Hrs & SCHOOL HOLIDAYS DO NOT COINCIDE WITH NORMAL WORKING SCHEDULES. In UK, Italy, Germany, and France schools start by the first week of September....
Then, on the extreme end you have women who unfortunately cannt bear a single child and they are doomed to work until retirement, non-stop. Why does nobody think about the thousands of infertile couples we have in Malta? Aren't these married couples also families? Is it their fault that they do not have children? So, I propose that a women who has been working for say 20 years straight, should also be given the incentive to take a small break from work, even if it is for just a year or be allowed to work on reduced hours basis for at least 2 years until she regains back her strength. It is a known fact that STRESS CONTRIBUTES TO INFERTILITY. So, it can be the case as well that as a women is having a break from work, she gets caught (pregnant).