Pre-registration, Sensitisation and Training Programme for Childminders on National Standards
Caring for other people’s children is a serious responsibility and can be very demanding. It requires a variety of skills and experience; however, many do it with endless passion. A person who chooses to become a Childminder must be able to provide a reliable, high quality service that contributes to the development and education of children. Childminders are not only someone with whom one leaves the child whilst working but are also educators and professionals in their own right as they provide stimulating play activities. They ensure that children are cared for in a safe environment and work in partnership with parents to promote optimal child development. For many, Childminding is also a business and Childminders need to adopt a professional approach and develop friendly and harmonious relationship with the parents and families.
In Seychelles, Childminding is a popular community service. The Childminding Study conducted by the Institute for Early Childhood Development (IECD) in 2013 established that 1159 children were being cared for by 147 Childminders across the country. The same study reported gaps in areas such as health and safety, early learning and support and training for Childminders. This brought forth the need to develop standards to measure the quality of services. Pre-registration and sensitisation training programme has been developed based on the standards for Childminders on Mahe, Praslin, and La Digue.
The training was based on the ten standards; Early Learning, Interaction, Health, Nutrition, Safety, Children’s Rights and Protection, Staffing, Physical Environment, Family and Community Engagement and Administration. The modality of the training was mainly experience-based, with hands-on activities aimed at building on the knowledge and experience of Childminders to raise the quality of early childhood services. It was facilitated by experts from the Health, Education, Social Affairs, Community Development and Sports, as well as Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency. The training programme began with a general meeting with Childminders and was followed by a series of training sessions from November 2015 to April 2016.
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