Check credibility of pre-school centres: Children's Secretariat

11 February 2012 06:26 am

The Children’s Secretariat has advised parents to check on the standards of early-childhood centres such as nurseries, montessories and daycare centers when admitting their children because more than 50 per cent of them have not been registered with the authorities.

The Secretariat’s Deputy Director Jayantha Peiris said the authorities were unable to take action against the unauthorised institutions because of the absence of laws to do so. He said the Early Childhood Development Act which was to be introduced one and a half years ago had been delayed.

“There is little we can do to control these unauthorised institutions therefore we ask parents to check on the qualifications of nursery teachers, the teaching environment and other information regarding the standards of the institution.

He said as far as the ministry knew there were about 16,000 early-childhood centers in Sri Lanka out of which fewer than half were registered with the respective Provincial Councils.

Early childhood development centers are registered by the Provincial Councils but are monitored by the Children’s Secretariat, which comes under the purview of the Child Development and Women’s Affairs Ministry.

A nursery teacher speaking to the Daily Mirror said parents should also ensure that the child was not subject to abuse or harassment in the institutions which was known to have happened on several occasions. (Olindhi Jayasundere)