EARLY Childhood Commission (ECC) is emphasising the importance of parents enrolling their children in registered institutions.

According to ECC Chair Trisha Williams-Singh, registration with the commission guarantees that an early childhood institution (ECI) has met the minimum requirements for health and safety during inspection.

She noted that it is often after adverse events — such as a child getting burned or consuming something that makes them ill — that parents make a report to the ECC and it is revealed that the ECI is not registered.

“A school that does not have a permit to operate simply means that this institution is at risk for health and safety [issues],” she pointed out.

The number of delinquent ECIs by parish as of September 13, 2024 are St Catherine – 47; St James – 24; St Ann – 14, Clarendon – 12; St Thomas – 10; St Elizabeth – eight; Trelawny, Westmoreland and Hanover – seven each; Kingston and St Andrew – four; Portland and St Mary – two each; and Manchester – one.

ECIs are inspected against 12 national standards – staffing; development and educational programmes; physical environment; interactions and relationships with children; indoor and outdoor equipment; health; nutrition; safety; child rights, child protection and equality; administration; finance; and parent and stakeholder participation.

“All 12 standards are important, and that’s what you work towards, however the very critical ones from the onset of you being able to get a permit speaks a lot to the health and safety,”Williams-Singh said.

She explained that staffing is also critical, noting that caregivers must have attained at least HEART/NSTA Trust Level 4 training in early childhood development.

She urged parents to stop enrolling their children in “holding spots” and to instead choose registered ECIs where their children’s brains are being stimulated, as their most critical years for brain development are in the first 1,000 days of life.

“In the early years, what you do is an activity plan with the children because you have to [engage them in activities] to improve their motor skills and stimulate their brain so that they want to learn,” she pointed out.

Williams-Singh explained further that ECIs are guided by a play-based curriculum, which encourages outdoor activities with equipment.

“If that school cannot show you that permit to operate, if that school is not registered with the Early Childhood Commission, I’m asking you, do not send your child there. Your child is at risk; relocate your child,” she appealed.

“If parents just look, there is an institution not too far from where you live that can take care of your child. Do not be scammed by persons who tell you that they have an operation, and they are not registered with the Early Childhood Commission,” she said.

She argued that when parents take action, delinquent ECIs will either close their doors or seek to become compliant.

While there has been a reduction in the number of unregistered early childhood institutions across Jamaica, ECC estimates that there are about 145 in operation.

“The challenge that we have is that they pop up and we are not aware. We rely on the public to say to us, ‘We see a school here,’” she said, noting that some operators open elsewhere under different names after they are ordered closed.

– JIS