COVID 19 and MCO Have Upended Routines For Infant Daycare Centres in Petaling Jaya

It has been more than a month after Malaysia shuttered the largest school district all over the nation, our Prime Minister announced that all non-essential businesses must close, too. Among the exceptions to his edict were infant daycare programs, which he dubbed essential, along with grocers and doctor’s offices. With infant daycare closures, daycare shutdowns and self-quarantines, parents across Petaling Jaya are scrambling to find a way to manage their children all by themselves. The spread of Covid-19 has brought city after city to a standstill throughout the MCO ( Movement Control Order) has, in fact, spurred what may be the greatest global child care crisis in modern history.   

Nevertheless, this pandemic crisis has only intensified this reality.

Parents and childcare workers are facing this dilemma across Malaysia, especially now that many districts are under MCO. Many parents do not have the option of sending their child to infant daycare or any preschool. But there are also genuine questions about whether they can ask other people to look after their children when all efforts are being made to limit contagion while childcare centre is struggling with maintaining their premise cost and employee’s salary. 

So, Do Parents Still Pay When Infant Daycare In Petaling Jaya Is Closed For Weeks, Or Months, Because Of COVID-19?

With that being said, the COVID-19 emergency has pushed childcare providers in Malaysia to the absolute brink, forced to close their doors to stop the spread of the virus. Even when MCO is over, much-needed protection is required to the childcare infrastructure and its educators who earn, on average, about RM30 an hour.  As much as childcare providers want to be of service, it’s a hard situation for everyone. Families struggle to pay for childcare under the best of circumstances. And paying for months of childcare you’re not actually using at the same time that many families are getting crushed financially is no small task. But what about the people who watch over your toddler before MCO takes place?

We’re obviously not alone. As COVID-19 has obliterated so many families’ routines, parents and childcare providers are being forced to wrestle with some pretty big, thorny issues. Or how to equitably handle pay for a care provider when that care provider isn’t working. However, under the Employment law, employers have to pay the staff their full salaries because they are required to stay away from their workplace due to the MCO. These caregivers are to work at home and are not on holiday. In fact, childcare centres and preschools were advised to continue with their programmes, not face-to-face but using current technologies. In fact, it is necessary to make sure childcare centre can keep paying their workers during this time and reopen when it is safe to do so and to remedy some of the inequities that have left child care workers in Malaysia underpaid, overworked, and unacknowledged.

As such, this pandemic has left only two options on we can either do what is needed to stabilize the childcare system, or we can watch childcare providers collapse, one by one in our communities. Without a doubt, parents should, in fact, help their infant daycare centres or preschools to sustain their operations during this period by paying the monthly fees, especially by parents who receive their salary while working from home. Because some of these childcare centres and preschools are providing online services while continuing with their education programmes albeit without face-to-face interactions.

What Are The Efforts That Can Be Taken By Infant Daycare In Petaling Jaya?

Staying connected virtually.

Many childcare centres such as infant daycare, preschool and early learning centres are continuing to connect virtually while also providing educational materials and food that is being delivered by staff. Some childcare centres have been putting together commodity boxes and educational packets that are being delivered to the families of children they serve. For instance, the educational packets include two or three activities that parents can do with their children which a book, colouring pages, and crayons and bags of beads and pipe cleaners. Besides that, the caregivers also can calls the parents to see if they have any questions about the delivery and to see how they’re doing.

Sharing parenting tips online.

When young children experience a change in their routines, they may be confused or upset. But most children under three lack the words they need to share their feelings. They may “tell” you through their behaviour by being fussy, by withdrawing, by going back to earlier behaviours like wanting their pacifier or waking frequently at night. It’s easy to become frustrated since as adults, we’re already managing so much. However, some infant childcare centres are sharing parenting tips online so that it helps to ease parents in taking care of their child. They are sharing parenting articles online where parents can easily access the websites with just a click away. For example,  if you co-parent, talk about how you can share caregiving time so that each of you have a little time alone. Or if you are balancing work-at-home with child care, they share tips on how to collaborate on creating daily schedules that allow each of you to focus on key professional responsibilities while keeping children safe and occupied. 

Giving a helping hand to lower-income parents.

Even though school fees is the only real income infant daycare centres have coming in right now but majority of them has lost their income. But some daycare centres are trying their best to help lower-income parents. Because most of the parents are very low-income so they don’t always have materials and supplies. If one parent says they are looking for diapers and wipes, childcare centre is talking about how they can provide those to alleviates the stress for them.

Nevertheless, it’s hard for these infant childcare centres to make a plan, to tell other people what the plan is when they don’t know what’s going to happen next. But with the extended MCO (Movement Control Order) some daycare centres might be considering asking families to continue paying at least something. Not requiring, but asking so that they can stay afloat and eventually open again when it’s all over.