One of the headline-grabbing announcements in the recent Budget was the plan to extend the number of free childcare centres in Malta and Gozo. This would not only meet one of the Government’s manifesto promises but also greatly improve the number of childcare services in Malta, which is currently the lowest in the European Union.
More importantly, unless the coverage of childcare facilities is greatly expanded, the aim of increasing female participation in the labour market will falter.
The problem is that in its anxiety to introduce free childcare services – a commendable aim in itself – the Government may well have put the cart before the horse. According to a just released White Paper, only a bare minimum of childcare centre managers have the level of qualifications necessary for the task.
According to standards regulating the sector, a child carer should have a level 4 qualification, which is equivalent to a diploma, recognised by the Malta Qualifications Council, a body which has now been incorporated into the National Commission for Further and Higher Education. A manager should have a level 5.
A study in 2012 showed that just one of the 52 managers of registered childcare centres had a recognised qualification at this level. Six had absolutely no qualifications. Thirteen had some form of qualification but these were not recognised by the Malta Qualifications Council. Twelve had recognised qualifications that, regrettably, were not related to childcare. Twenty others had level 4, the qualification to be a child carer, not a manager.
The White Paper notes that Malta has the least educated workforce in early years, with the shortest period of initial training. It was imperative, it stressed, to have a tier of highly-qualified practitioners to give direction to carers.
When taking into consideration the 226 child carers who are working in the 52 registered centres, the data for 2012 showed that, while there had been an increase in the number of carers employed, there was a drop in the number of those having recognised qualifications.
It would appear, therefore, that before the Government rolls out its commendable free childcare scheme the necessary trained staff must first be found.
The Government argues, however, that there are enough child carers to cope with an increase in demand and that childcare centres are “heavily under-utilised”.
While the White Paper indicates that the number of children who regularly spend a reasonable time in the centres is indeed low, a closer examination of the figures demonstrates that there are 500 children waiting to be admitted into childcare centres. The key point is that 80 per cent of these are waiting to find a place in government childcare centres and this indicates that the issue is essentially about the affordability of places on offer, not simply of availability.
It could well be that as the free childcare service gets underway, demand for places will outstrip the number of centres having properly trained managers and carers in place. This is the crux of the issue.
It is clearly unacceptable that young children should be placed in childcare centres unless the Government is absolutely confident that the carers and managers are fully trained, properly vetted and fully qualified for their job.
The consequences of even one bad apple caring for children this age are too horrific to contemplate. The Government must ensure that the physical amenities are satisfactory and, overridingly, the qualifications of managers and carers are adequate for their tasks before centres are declared operational.