CHILD DEV’T WORKERS | UNICEF says low pay, investment given to child care workers in the Philippines

January 24, 2024 , 06:29 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(January 24, 2024) – The United Nations (UN) agency has expressed concerns about the low salaries and inadequate training given to childcare workers in the Philippines, noting its impacts on the delivery of early childhood education in the country.

A survey done by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Philippine government’s Early Childhood Care and Development Council found that only about 48% of the country’s child development workers (CDWs), also called daycare workers, were college graduates.

Only less than half of them were also given training at least twice.

Moreover, only one in five childcare workers had permanent posts, and the average salaries for non-permanent workers stood at P5,000. In disadvantaged areas, the honoraria went as low as P1,000 per month.

Behzad Noubary, UNICEF Philippines’ deputy representative for programs, said the government must invest more into improving the salaries and training of childcare workers.

“We need to make being a child development worker a dignified profession,” Noubary said in a press release from the UN agency. “They have the right to decent and fair wages, learning opportunities to improve or gain new skills, and various forms of support to improve their work.”

UNICEF also raised concerns about the challenges that have kept most families from enrolling their children in early childhood education (ECE). The agency, citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, noted only a quarter of three- to four-year-old children are enrolled in ECE programs.

UNICEF advised the Philippine government to allocate at least 10% of its education budget in early childhood education, estimated at 25 billion, which will include salary increases and training programs for CDWs.

The agency also recommended authorities to construct more child development centers and fund supplementary feeding programs, water and sanitation facilities and parenting activities.

“Child development workers benefit individual children by giving them good foundational skills and support for their physical and emotional development and promote economic growth by preparing a strong and productive workforce, improving equity, and reducing expenses needed for catch-up programs,” the agency said.

Several measures have been filed in both chambers of the 19th Congress proposing a “magna carta” for CDWs, which mainly focused on ensuring a living wage, security of tenure, and professional development for the country’s childcare workers.

There have also been proposals in Congress to “professionalize” CDWs nationwide. But the Federation of Day Care Workers, during a Senate hearing last year, was wary of this proposal on concerns that it could lead to job losses in the sector.and parenting activities.

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