October 18, 2025
The Childminders’ Excellence Award Committee, led by its Chairperson, Ms. Daniella Antat and members, met yesterday with the IECD’s Chief Executive Officer and staff from the Regulatory Affairs, Quality Assurance, and Standard Settings Division to present the preliminary findings of the 2025 Award’s selection process and an overall assessment of the initiative.
The Committee shared valuable insights gathered from targeted and unannounced visits to selected home-based child care services. These visits were conducted based on the criteria relating to the award, primarily focusing on mandatory standards for child care services, including Child Rights and Protection, Health and Hygiene, Safety, Staffing, and Early Learning. The visits enabled the Committee to observe and assess the implementation and compliance with national standards, as well as the overall quality of care within home-based settings.
The Committee also highlighted several recommendations aimed at sustaining the excellent work carried out by the Institute’s inspectors and strengthening specific areas for further improvement. Key concerns identified include staff-to-child ratios, safety, and nutrition, where consistent and regular follow-up inspections should be reinforced. Both management and staff have responded positively to the findings and are committed to addressing these issues with the support of the relevant partners.
In her closing remarks, the CEO expressed heartfelt appreciation for the Committee’s dedicated efforts and valuable contributions toward enhancing the quality of child care services. Mrs. Choppy described this important exercise as an external assessment of the internal inspection process and commended the Committee for their observations and recommendations. With the preliminary discussions with the Committee, she noted that internal discussions are currently underway to review and improve the inspection procedures, as well as to undertake capacity building sessions for inspectors, ensuring continuous progress in regulatory and quality assurance practices.
The final findings will be shared, and any updates concerning inspection processes will be communicated to registered childminders during an upcoming general meeting.
Since the inception of the 0-3 Home-based Child Care Programme in 2013, IECD, as the national coordinating entity for ECCE, has achieved numerous milestones and fostered strong collaborations with relevant partners and stakeholders. This programme has evolved into a model of best practice, which the Institute—recognized as a UNESCO Category 2 Institute—will prioritize in providing technical assistance to countries and organizations seeking to emulate and implement it to advance early childhood development.
