A childcare group yesterday urged the government not to adopt a measure to upload camera footage from daycare centers online for public access, saying the policy might trigger a strike.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare has convened three public hearings on the proposed measure and each elicited opposition from the industry, said Chiang Shu-jung (蔣叔融), chairman of the Taipei-based Chinese United General Association of Maternity, Infant and Childcare Education.
Increasing the number of trained workers and allowing parents to spend more time with their children would be more effective in boosting the quality of care than policies that cast suspicion on carers, Chiang said.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese United General Association of Maternity, Infant and Childcare Education
The industry voluntarily adopted cameras in 2018 to help prevent child abuse and protect their institutions from unfounded allegations, and the centers have been run with transparency since then, he said.
Cameras are not a panacea for guaranteeing child safety, as the images shown on screen can be ambiguous and open to interpretation, Chiang said.
Lightly slapping infants to comfort them for sleep or help expel phlegm can be mistaken for striking them, he said, adding that even the most passionate carers could quit after being falsely accused.
Daycare centers already experience problems with frivolous demands by parents to review video footage after their child takes a fall, has an argument with classmates or is bitten by mosquitoes, Chiang said.
Childcare is carried out by people passionate about childcare, not surveillance cameras, he said, adding that workers in the industry are often unable to see their own children due to long shifts.
The government is being called upon to implement policies to enable parents with children under two years of age to go home earlier for family time, which would reduce the pressure on care centers, he said.
Childcare workers should have a four-day workweek, reserving one weekday for parents to spend time with their children, Chiang said.
Regulations on surveillance camera use should be tweaked to reduce unreasonable demands for reviewing footage, which is one of the main reasons cited by workers who leave the field, he said.
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