IPOH: The state government will build childcare centres (taska) at government premises beginning next year.
Following this, state Women, Family, Social Welfare, Cooperatives and Entrepreneur Development Committee chairman Datuk Salbiah Mohamed said the Perak Welfare Department has formed a Task Force Auditing the Establishment of Workplace Nursery.
Salbiah said that through this initiative, the department has targeted all government offices in Perak that have potential and are suitable, including District and Land Offices, District Councils, Higher Education Institutions and Government Hospitals to have these childcare centres.
"Letters on this matter have been distributed to all government departments and we have also attached the Public Sector Workplace Child Care Establishment Information Form.
"Therefore, I call on the heads of departments to look into this matter and from 2024 the state government will mobilise this task force more aggressively so that childcare centres can be established in the main offices.
"This is for the safety of children and most importantly gives relief to working parents," she told the state legislative assembly sitting at Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan here, today.
She was responding to a question by S. Wasanthee (PKR-Hutan Melintang) on child welfare in Perak.
To encourage the establishment of childcare centres in factories and shopping premises, Salbiah said the state government has held a campaign and information session through the Let's Register Taska campaign.
"Through this campaign, the management factories or supermarkets will be informed about the criteria and conditions that need to be complied with before starting the operation of setting up a nursery in the workplace," he said.
On the statistics of child abuse cases in Perak, Salbiah said the number of cases increased between 2020 and 2022.
She said in 2020, there were 332 cases of child abuse and neglect recorded, in 2021 (370 cases) and in 2022 (532 cases).
"As of Nov 30 this year, there has been a significant decrease of 168 only cases that have been reported and are being managed by the Social Welfare Department," she said.