Sun, Jan 31, 2010 page2

• Daycare workers air complaints

  HARD LABOR Activists said that many teachers and workers at childcare centers have to endure poor working conditions, including low pay and long hours

  • By Loa Iok-sin / STAFF REPORTER
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  Representatives of daycare workers yesterday deplored poor working conditions — including low wages, unpaid overtime and long hours — at a number of daycare centers and kindergartens across the country.

  Although many private daycare centers and kindergartens charge parents high fees, workers at these centers do not benefit, they said.

  A 35-year-old teacher who has worked at five kindergartens since finishing a course on child care at a university 12 years ago shared her experiences.

  “I start work at 7am every day,” said the teacher, who only wished to be known as Hsiao Chen (小珍).

  “I have to be on the school bus to pick up kids from their homes in the morning, look after them during nap time, clean classrooms and, after the kids have gone home, I still have to prepare for classes the next day — I usually get off work at around 7pm,” Hsiao Chen told a press conference held by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英).

  Hsiao Chen said she also has to participate in activities organized by the kindergarten and take self-improvement courses on weekends from time to time.

  She said she enjoys the work because she loves children, but the salary leaves much to be desired. She gets paid less than NT$20,000 (US$620) a month.

  Hsiao Chen’s case is not an isolated one.

  A survey by the Council of Labor Affairs last year on working conditions at 50 randomly selected kindergartens and daycare centers that had received positive government evaluations showed that as many as 65 percent were in violation of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).

  The council reported that many of these centers failed to keep accurate records of employee attendance, give their employees enough holiday or pay their employees for overtime worked.

  A number were also found to pay their employees below the minimum wage or did not register their employees for labor insurance, it said.

  Chien Jui-lien (簡瑞連), board member of the Kaohsiung County Childcare Worker’s Union, said the fact that childcare centers in violation of the labor law could still receive positive reviews from the government was proof that it didn’t care about workers’ welfare.

  “Without a good working environment, how can you expect kindergarten teachers to do their best? So this problem is not just about teachers, but also about children,” she said.

  Tsai Hsiao-ling (蔡曉玲), professor at Shu-te University's Department of Childcare and Family Studies, warned that the nation may soon face a “shortage of professional child care workers, because more and more of my students choose to find other jobs after they graduate.”

  Chen Kun-huang (陳坤煌), chief secretary of the Ministry of the Interior’s Children’s Bureau, said childcare centers and kindergartens were evaluated on more than 200 items, but only about five to six of them were related to working conditions.

  “That’s why kindergartens that may have violated the Labor Standards Act can still win positive reviews,” Chen said.

  “We will expand the percentage of the score they receive for working conditions when we evaluate kindergartens in the future,” he said.

  CLA official Wang Chin-yang (王進揚) promised that the council would conduct more inspections at daycare centers in the future.
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