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Child care providers have said they need clarity on how they can reopen in phase 3 of the government’s roadmap to ease restrictions on Covid-19, which will begin June 29.
They also warned that reducing the proportions of children per caregiver would leave some centers out of business.
It has been two months since nurseries and early childhood centers closed due to Covid-19.
“As of March 12, there were 206,000 babies and children going in and out of daycare, preschool and after school every day,” said Frances Byrne of Early Childhood Ireland.
That means 206,000 children are being cared for at home, but what will happen when parents need to return to work? The truth is that nobody knows yet. Not even the providers themselves.
“I am looking at what services they are doing in other countries that are already open,” said Siobhan Geissel, director of the Kidz Academy in Kildare.
“It would be great to have a directive from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, so we are all on the same page,” he told RTÉ’s This Week.
“What we hope is that we will be asked to care for fewer children at any time.”
But having fewer children means less income, and this is not welcome in a sector that was already on the razor’s edge. There have been ongoing problems with insurance, registration, low wages, and high fees for parents.
Ms. Geissel has been receiving calls from essential workers who are concerned that their daycare or preschool locations are disappearing.
“We will need a great deal of support from the state to make sure that our services remain sustainable and can continue to provide valuable support to families in our community,” he said.
Elaine Dunne, president of the Federation of Early Childhood Care Providers, said some facilities have already closed permanently and she believes more will be leaving the sector.
“Most of us can’t go in there with ten or 12 kids if we’ve previously had as many as 40, because as soon as we open our doors we go back to mortgages, rates and all of that. Unless the government can come up with some kind of scheme, there will be many services that will not open. “
A spokesman for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs said this week that it is costing proposals to ensure “the financial sustainability of the sector when capacity constraints limit income and parents cannot afford to cover higher fees.”
It is also working to “ensure a sufficient number of qualified early learning and childcare professionals, given the likelihood of reducing the ratio of adults to children, and the challenges with recruitment and retention.”
With so many lost jobs for Covid-19, some parents may choose not to go to daycare locations. Others have said they no longer feel safe leaving children the way they used to.
Linda Byrne, a teacher from Kilternan, Co Dublin, who normally has two children in daycare, said she is nervous about going back to school or daycare.
“I am very concerned about social distancing in schools and child care. I don’t know how social distancing can be done in child care settings,” said Linda.
The plan announced last week to provide affordable child care to 5,000 healthcare workers has also run into insurance problems at Covid-19, as it involves caregivers going to private homes.
Elaine Dunne said that there is a lot of fear of going to people’s houses and that she does not know anyone who has decided to participate in the plan.
Siobhan Geissel said the required Garda background investigation may be expedited, but that the plan will begin next week, making it a very short turnaround time.
The Department of Children and Youth Affairs said it is too early to evaluate the response to the scheme for health workers and that it cannot compensate private sector employers for insurance reasons.
And that is just the beginning.
ESRI estimates that 100,000 essential workers, primarily women and lone parents, also need child care quickly.
Early Childhood Ireland believes that these problems can be overcome through consultation. “It is complex but not impossible. Whatever the agreed reopening plan will be, it will need prompt execution,” Frances Byrne said this week.
“A uniform approach across the various sectors of education is very important. Whatever happens to schools when they reopen, daycare centers should reflect that.
“Otherwise, parents will be left in the lurch. The safe reopening of kindergartens and preschools is critical to the rest of the economy,” he said.
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