Yamsuan: P1-B funding for new child development centers should include increased benefits for daycare workers

Representative Brian Raymund Yamsuan has pushed for the grant of additional benefits for, and the continuing education of, daycare workers following the government’s recent move to release P1 billion to fund the establishment of more child development centers (CDCs) in low-income communities across the country.

Yamsuan said funding the establishment of new CDCs should be complemented by investments to empower daycare workers to improve their capabilities in providing early childhood care and education.

These investments should include, among others, providing each daycare worker with a teaching supplies allowance amounting to at least P5,000 per school year, and free continuing education to enhance their skills, Yamsuan said.

“We laud the President and Secretary Amenah Pangandaman [of the Department of Budget and Management] for approving the release of P1 billion for the establishment of CDCs in low-income local government units (LGUs). We cannot discount the importance of early childhood care and education in aiding the learning success and shaping the emotional and social development of our children,” Yamsuan said.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. had announced that the P1-billion fund will be used to set up CDCs in 328 low-income barangays.

“Government funding to set up new child development centers, especially in marginalized communities, should be accompanied by corresponding investments to strengthen the capabilities of daycare workers through additional benefits and training,” Yamsuan said.

Yamsuan said consultations he conducted with daycare workers in his home city of Parañaque revealed that among their immediate concerns was their ever-increasing out-of-pocket expenses for learning materials and teaching supplies.

“Our hardworking daycare workers should not be made to spend the small honoraria they receive to buy teaching materials and other supplies. Ensuring support for them would lead to better learning outcomes for the kids under their care,” Yamsuan said.

“Grabe ang mga sakripisyo ng mga nagtatrabaho sa mga child development centers na karamihan ay mga volunteers pero tila napabayaan na ang kanilang kalagayan,” added Yamsuan.

(Workers in child development centers, who are mostly volunteers, undergo great sacrifices, but their plight seems to have been neglected.).

Yamsuan said LGUs, especially those classified as 1st to 3rd class in terms of income, can use their National Tax Allotment (NTA) and Special Education Fund to provide for the teaching supplies allowance of daycare workers.

Local chief executives can also coordinate with the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in providing free upskilling programs for daycare workers, he said.

As former chief of staff of the late Senator Tessie Aquino Oreta, Yamsuan worked with the lawmaker to help her shepherd the passage of her landmark ECCD Act of 2000.

Yamsuan said his proposed measures to “care for daycare workers” are outlined under House Bill (HB) 10224, which he hopes to re-file in the next Congress.

HB 10224 also mandates the ECCD Council, in partnership with LGUs, to establish and maintain a unified and regularly updated database of all government-sponsored CDCs and their respective workers.

Under Republic Act 6972, the monthly allowance that shall be given to workers in accredited barangay daycare centers is a meager P500 a month, which Yamsuan is “obviously not even enough for their daily needs.”

Meanwhile, many LGUs provide a monthly honorarium of only P1,000 for some 14,725 daycare workers and/or teachers, Yamsuan said.

DSWD data also show that nearly 9 out of 10 daycare workers hold non-permanent and even voluntary positions.