26 follow national childminding standards programme
The Institute of Early Childhood Development on Saturday conducted its pre-registration, sensitisation and training programme on the national standards for childminding services, prospective childminders and assistants.
The training which was held at the Seychelles Institute for Teacher Education (Site) was aimed at educating the 26 participants on the national standards and to build their overall capacity when implementing these standards.
It was the 10th training programme, since 2015, organised in close collaboration with key Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) sectors which include the Public Health Authority, Health Care Agency, Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Family, and Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency.
The participants are expected to follow a two to two-and-a-half months of training on 10 key standards in preparation for them to be registered and to be recognised as childminding services.
The key standards are health, nutrition, child’s rights and protection, family and community engagement, early learning, interaction, safety, physical environment, administration and staffing.
There will be a total of nine sessions held every Saturday until November 19 and they will include both adult learning principles and practical participation such as group activities.
All sessions are conducted by different facilitators in areas of expertise from these different sectors.
At the end of the training, all those who have completed the programme will receive a certificate of attendance, enabling them to undertake the necessary formalities to register their services with the IECD.
The training session is the second this year after the ninth cohort completed their training, which started in mid-April 2022, in June 2022.
The session for the 10th cohort on Saturday was on health in relation to hygiene and sanitation which are considered vital when safeguarding children’s health and minimising their risk of contamination.
Monica Course, principal public health officer of the Public Health Authority, led the session and was helped by Nathalie Moustache, director regulatory affairs within the IECD.
Since the launch of the training programme in 2015, IECD has groomed around 300 childminders around the country, among whom 105 are registered members who are minding more than three children. The others are not registered as the IECD regulations allow them not to do so if they wish, if they are minding three children or less.
Launching the training, IECD chief executive Shirley Choppy insisted on the completion of the nine sessions for the delegates to be eligible to register with the IECD.
She thanked them for responding to the training to establish a solid base to embrace formal education and to address social issues the country is facing.
She added that IECD is happy childminders caring for three children at home are also enrolling on formal trainings with the institute for the implementation of the national standards for early childhood development.
Most of the childminders following the training are aspiring for formal employment and among them was Jacqueline Joubert, a teacher for 23 years from the Independent School.
She said she joined the training because she wanted to relate all her experience gathered working with small children, into a home business and the only way to do so is to get registered.
Saturday’s session in progress
Brigitte Hoareau from Ile Persévérance 2 has been minding not more than three children for the past eight years, and said she has joined the training as she wanted to register to expand her business further.
In accordance with the IECD Act, 2014, the institute is mandated to regulate childminding services, grant registration, and ensure compliance with the established national standards.
One way of fostering compliance with the set standards and further improvement in the quality of childminding service nationally is through the pre-registration sensitisation and training programme. Childminding is for children from four months to four years old in preparation for crèche or pre-school. Childminders with fewer than three children are allowed not to register while those minding more than three children are obliged under the IECD Act to register their businesses with the institution.
Text & photos by Patrick Joubert (Nation.sc)
