The Social Welfare Bureau’s (IAS) Social Solidarity Department’s Children and Youth Service Division Chief Lau Kit Yim said yesterday that according to the data obtained from local nurseries, the average ratio of childcare workers to children is 1 to 6.2, and that for babies it stands at 1 to 3.4, which was better than that of neighbouring areas.
Lau made the remarks yesterday in a phone-in programme hosted by public broadcaster TDM’s Chinese-language radio station, Ou Mun Tin Toi, when responding to a caller’s concern that the ratio of childcare workers to children in Macau’s nurseries was imbalanced, and that, therefore, children could not be properly cared for.
Lau added that based on the assumption that 70 percent of Macau’s childcare workers work on a particular weekday, the ratio of childcare workers to children would be 1 to 4.3, while that for babies would amount to 1 to 2.4.
Another caller expressed the hope that the quality of childcare workers would improve. Lau said that the number of local childcare workers who hold a national childcare occupational qualification certificate has reached 40 percent of their total number since last year. However, Lau admitted, the certificate is currently not a compulsory employment requirement for childcare workers.
Lau underlined that the bureau will continue to organise more programmes to enhance the competence of childcare workers, and that the bureau was willing to listen to the views of the local community.
Considering that nursery-related certification is the trend of the sector, lawmaker Wong Kit Cheng, a nurse by profession, suggested during the phone-in programme that nurseries should establish an assessment system to encourage the self-enhancement of childcare workers and enhance their pre-service training.
Wong also pointed out that the declining birth rate in Macau could be used as an opportunity to make childcare services more professional and caring.
Lau said that an average of about 20 complaints have been received annually in recent years, while the 26 complaints that have been received so far this year mainly concerned child injuries and administrative operations.
Currently, subsided nurseries are regularly reviewed and improved in line with official criteria in terms of their management, childcare activities, health and safety, and third-party experts are being invited to provide advice on child care services, Lau said.
Lau also underlined that since 2019, the bureau has commissioned the University of Macau’s (UM) Faculty of Education to conduct an ongoing study on the service quality of nurseries and an operation manual consultancy project. So far, such manuals have been prepared for 10 subsidised nurseries, Lau said.
The Social Welfare Bureau’s (IAS) Social Solidarity Department’s Children and Youth Service Division Chief Lau Kit Yim talks during a phone-in programme hosted yesterday by public broadcaster TDM’s Chinese-language radio station, Ou Mun Tin Toi.
