Wednesday pose with representatives of Youth Health Care, SHCA and the Island Government.
Four day care centres
receive their permits
~ 32 still to comply ~
PHILIPSBURG--Four of the 38 day care centres operating in St. Maarten were given their permits for complying with the minimum requirements outlined in a policy enacted in 2000 for day care centres on the island.
Two of the remaining 34 day care centres have met the requirements and the process to grant their permits will be started shortly. The remaining 32 are still to comply, to be granted their permits.
There were 40 day care centres on the island up to some two weeks ago, but one was gutted by fire on Saturday, September 8, and another closed its doors a few days ago, Inspector for Day Care Centres in the Antilles Mayra Martina told The Daily Herald yesterday shortly after the permits were given out to the centres that had met the requirements.
Granted permits were Tiny Tots, Kids Unite and La Gribouille, a French St. Martin day care centre established on the Dutch side. Representatives of Nijntje Day Care Centre could not attend the ceremony to collect their permit.
Asked whether the other day care centres were operating illegally, as they hadn’t yet complied with the regulations, Martina said, “Basically yes.” She said some of the centres had started to submit the lengthy list of documentation needed.
She said the intention was to have all the centres meet the regulations and receive their permits to operate legally.
Before the centres are granted their permits they must meet the requirements set out in an ordinance enacted in October 2000 and must pass mandatory fire, building hygiene and Youth Health Care Department inspections. Among the conditions in the policy are requirements for sufficient space, the ratio of the number of children to the number of caregivers, and mandatory education requirements for caregivers.
When the quality day care ordinance was passed in 2000 existing day care centres were given five years to meet the requirements, while it was the intention for new centres to pass the regulations before being given the green light to open. However, some slipped through the cracks, said Martina, who is the only day care inspector in the Netherlands Antilles.
Education Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams said it was imperative for day care centres to meet the requirements, as they held a very important function in society caring for young children. She said the issuing of the permits should be seen as an example for other day care centres. She said too that the intention was not for government to “bring down the hammer” on the centres that hadn’t yet complied, but noted that it was “a work in progress.”
Health Commissioner Maria Buncamper-Molanus said no permits had been granted since the policy was enacted in 2002 and the policy on day care centres was developed in 2003, until yesterday.
“All four day care centres receiving their permits today started after 2000 and are the only ones who handed in all papers related to requesting a permit. In the meantime, two more have done so and those permits will be requested shortly,” said Buncamper-Molanus.
“Efforts to improve compliance with the ordinance proved to be more difficult than expected and for that reason all day care centres that do not adhere to the law received a letter from the Executive Council in which they were urged to comply with all the requirements to prevent measures being taken.”
She commended those who had complied. “As management and staff of day care/child care centres you deserve to be commended for the work you do every day with the children of St. Maarten,” she said. “Child care is a profession, not just a baby-sitting service. A large number of our children spend some or all of their day being cared for by someone other than their parents.
“With that in mind, quality child-care is an important issue in our country. For many parents, finding child-care for infant through school-age children is a fact of life. A trustworthy and dependable child-care situation is important for any parent.
“You’re some of the most important people in the world to the children in your care. The children of St. Maarten depend on providers like you, along with their parents, to keep them healthy and safe and to help them learn everything they need to know. Although it’s a big responsibility, it’s a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in children’s lives.”
