Laws On Cctvs In Childcare Centres May Be Enforced

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Scenes from a widely-shared video clip of alleged child abuse at a daycare centre in Sarawak recently. (Facebook pics)CYBERJAYA: The government is to look into enforcing laws requiring closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to be installed at every registered childcare centre, federal minister Nancy Shukri said.
Nancy, who is minister for women, family and community development, said the ministry will hold discussions regarding this matter and involve other agencies and departments in the future.
“There are childcare centres which have not installed CCTV cameras due to a lack of enforcement under the existing laws,” she said.
“Instead, daycare centre operators are only encouraged to instal them.
“Previously, when we proposed the idea, there were objections due to the expenses related to CCTV installation. We might assess whether the costs are excessive. This is a matter which we will deliberate collectively,” she told reporters here.
She was commenting on a widely circulated video clip from a CCTV recording depicting an incident of alleged child abuse at a daycare centre in Sabah.
Nancy said installing CCTV cameras at daycare centres could rebuild parents’ trust in sending their children to such centres, given the cases of abuse which have occurred in the past.
“We should ensure the installation of CCTV, and above all, the daycare centre manager must comply with it,” she said.
In March, Nancy had told the Dewan Rakyat that requiring CCTV installation for registered daycare centres was one of three improvements proposed by the social welfare department (JKM) to improve the operation of childcare centres.
She pointed out that installing CCTV cameras in daycare centres enables a more thorough investigation of any unwanted incidents that may occur on the premises.
Nancy added that there were 3,767 reported cases of children requiring care and protection nationwide in the first half of this year. JKM statistics showed the department handled 402 cases of domestic violence during the same period, she added. - FMT

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