Cebu urged: Invest in child dev’t

In both rural and urban areas in the country, child development workers (CDWs) act as foster parents to the children while their mothers and fathers are away or at work.

Unfortunately, Cebu is being hounded by the lack of accredited day care centers and of these specialized personnel owing to inadequate funding and the lack of political commitment.

“Less investment has been given in this early stage of childhood development. Although we have special courses for day care, it’s not given much importance,” said Dominica Chua, president and chief operating officer of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI).

Speaking at the Understanding Choices Forum on Early Childhood Care and Development at the plenary hall of RAFI in Cebu City yesterday afternoon, Chua said that in Cebu, at least half of the existing CDWs in Cebu are college graduates or undergraduate students. They receive an honorarium that ranges from P1,000 to P5,000 a month.

Cebu, with 1,093 barangays, is home to 1,514 CDWs. Of that number, 40 percent or around 600 are accredited by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)

Chua said the factors behind the low accreditation rate include political influence, difficulty of the compliance with these requirements, and not recognizing the importance of accreditation in the first place for some of the CDWs.

“There is a critical need to upgrade the CDWs’ competencies and capabilities through professionalization,” she said.

Flordemie Villar, president of the Federation of Child Development Workers, noted that the most vital skills of day care workers are communication and people skills, instructional skills, patience and stamina.

Out of the 339,079 children aged 0 to 6 years old, only 21 percent or 71,806 are currently enrolled in day care centers.

“Parents don’t usually send their kids to these day care centers because of the assumption that they would pay these centers 500 pesos for a couple of sessions just to play. It is important to let these parents understand that it is part of the child’s nature to learn through play,” said Marivic Racho-Garces of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office.

Out of the 1,442 child development centers (CDCs) in Cebu, only 196 or 14 percent are accredited with the DSWD while 221 or 15 percent still need to be repaired.

Promulgated on December 5, 2000, the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Act or Republic Act (RA) 8980 aims to support government efforts to increase readiness for productive life for the child.

The most important duty of these day-care workers, aside from meeting the needs of the child, is to keep records of the children’s progress and their interests as well.

Villar emphasized that CWDs are supposed to get scholarships, medical assistance, maternity benefits, and bonuses for their services, but in reality, this has not been realized.

Last March 2017, the House of Representatives gave the go-signal to establish the Magna Carta for Day Care Workers, which gives additional compensation, such as overtime pay, hazard allowance and subsistence allowance to day care workers.

Under this bill, day care workers automatically become members of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Pag-IBIG, and PhilHealth.