The tragic incident in which a child drowned in the Periyar recently after he reportedly walked out of a day-care centre unnoticed has thrown light on the unregulated environment in which day-care centres operate in the district.
Despite the mushrooming of private day-care centres, no agency has any statistics about them. There are also no regulatory mechanisms such as mandatory licence or registration.
Former District Collector M.G. Rajamanickam had asked the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) two years ago to prepare a list of institutions associated with children including day-care centres and centres offering various vacation courses. But nothing has materialised. “We are preparing a resource directory but that does not cover day-care centres. It is limited to institutions governed by the Juvenile Justice Act and special schools. We can only intervene on a case to case basis. We also lack the staff strength for an exhaustive work like preparing a list of the centres,” DCPU officials said.
V.K. Minimol, chairperson, health standing committee of the Kochi Corporation, said no registration was mandatory to run day-care centres. Some operators registered the centres to get loans for setting them up, she said.
'Passing the buck'
Education Department officials said pre-primary schools that became operational before December 7, 2012, came under its purview and passed the buck to the Department of Social Justice. However, officials with the District Social Justice Department said it had no control over day-care centres.
Padmaja Nair, Chairperson, Child Welfare Committee, said the lack of licensing and monitoring mechanisms made intervention difficult in cases involving day-care centres. Childline activists said it was high time to bring about a regulatory mechanism for day-care centres and private pre-schools. “Local bodies and the police can regulate and register them region-wise. Now, parents are at risk of making a bad choice in the absence of such regulations,” they said.
