SHAH ALAM, 24 FEB: The SiKembar Scheme not only helps parents from low-income groups to send their children to childcare centres but also creates opportunities to housewives and single mothers to generate income by opening their own nurseries.
The scheme which gives RM100 per child from a low-income family has received positive response from women who are interested in operating a private childcare centre at home.
Hence, the State Government held a Child Development Intensive Course for the first time to train would-be entrepreneurs, for women in particular, to start their own nurseries.
Nor Suhazianty Saufi, 32, a private nanny from Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, praised the State Government’s move to create opportunities for housewives and single mothers to run nurseries.
“I am very excited as stated by the Honourable (Rodziah Ismail), it helps single mothers, indirectly solving family financial problems from the very beginning.
“This course is great because it teaches about the basics and assists nannies who have yet to register.
“Indirectly it provides space for us to know where to go and what to do before and after opening a nursery,” she said when met after the course which lasted for three days.
Jamaliah Lemin, 34, from Puchong also concurred saying that it is a step forward in helping parents and nannies in Selangor.
“It is very good (for parents) and being able to generate more income (nursery operators),” said Jamaliah who intends to open a childcare centre at home after this.
Rodziah as the Welfare, Women’s Affairs, Science, Technology, Innovation and Culture Exco explains that the course is to to qualify nursery operators to become quality nannies.
“In Selangor, almost 2,000 nurseries submitted applications but only 300 were approved.
“So, we established the Selangor Care Certificate so that the ladies or whoever posses this certificate will be eligible to receive this people care assistance scheme.
“We want to find as many as possible to receive this benefit because every year we allocate RM3 million.
“SiKembar means that we gather children who receive the RM100 subsidy and we also want nursery nannies to also benefit from it,” she said.
Apart from increasing income, she said that the method has created opportunities for women to work at home and to provide services to the community.