The Ministry of Labor and Welfare will today (Tuesday) bring the regulations for early childhood supervision to the approval of the Knesset Committee. This is after the ministry distributed the public’s comments and then there is an intensive consultation with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance before submitting them to the Knesset for approval.
The following are the regulations as they were passed:
The Supervision of Day Care Centers for Toddlers Law stipulates that a day care center for toddlers may not be operated unless the operator has an operating license. According to the law, the conditions for obtaining the license include the following:
1. A resident of the day care center together with the toddlers (employee, manager, service provider who is in direct and continuous contact) must not have a criminal past, the severity of which, according to his circumstances, is not appropriate to stay near the said toddlers;
2. The staff at the daycare center underwent a first aid course;
3. Cameras are installed in the day care center for toddlers;
4. No sanctions were applied against the operator of the center for two years from the date of submission of the application and if sanctions were applied then the defect for which the sanction was imposed was corrected.
5. The day care department was provided with the list of employees employed in the day care center for toddlers.
6. The operator of the day care center meets the standards set forth in the regulations regarding the operation of the day care center.
According to the wording of the proposed regulations, these will set standards regarding the education care staff, the need to set an agenda, contact parents and report exceptional and safety incidents. According to the provisions of the law, the regulations require consultation with the Minister of Finance and the approval of a committee in the Knesset, and note that they also regulate a market segment that is less known, the private dormitories, these should be determined while managing risks.
Within aspects of care education the new regulations propose to order (determine) all of these:
Standardization: educator-caregiver ratio for the number of toddlers staying in the daycare center (educator-caregiver-toddler ratio) and occupancy (maximum number of children in the group):
* 6 to 15 months to 20 toddlers, 1: 5 ratio
* From 16 months to 24 months to 24 toddlers and a ratio of 1: 8
* From 24 months, up to 30 toddlers and a ratio of 1:10
Exception will be allowed in special circumstances of 10%. It should be noted that the proposed wording improves the existing standard in day care centers – but is still far from the desired situation and therefore there is a provision regarding the standard, occupancy and training that will be tested during the three years from the installation of regulations. .
Area: It was determined that the area should be safe, spacious, ventilated, allows movement, an appropriate educational and therapeutic environment, will include a sleeping area, a changing room, a toilet and will prevent overcrowding in the day care area.
In addition, a minimum area was set for a toddler in the daycare center:
6 to 15 months – 2.8 m
16 to 24 months – 2.6 m
25 to 36 months – 2.2 m
Training:
Regulations will require a training obligation, upon entering a caregiver educator he will be required to take a course of safe conduct and first aid. During the first year of his entry into the daycare center he will be required to begin pedagogical training. Basic pedagogical training will be 220 hours and a work arm will be able to determine tailored trainings, according to position, seniority, skills, etc.
Educational training:
The staff of the center will be committed to educational guidance, according to the proposal and taking into account public comments received in this matter, the number of monthly hours is divided into 4 steps:
Dormitories with at least 61 toddlers will be required to provide 10 hours of monthly educational instruction;
Dormitories that house at least 44 toddlers up to 60 will be charged at 8 hours per month.
Day care centers with at least 21 toddlers up to 43 will be charged at 6 monthly hours.
And daycare centers with up to 20 toddlers will be charged at 4 hours per month.
Lack of danger to toddlers:
The regulations stipulate that when accepting an employee for day care, the manager must examine, among other things, that the employee is not dangerous or that his behavior does not feed the toddlers, based on a reasonable basis for the assumption. In addition, a new employee will be required to be accompanied by practical instruction on what is going on in the day care center, and there is also a general obligation according to which the center of the day care center must stop employing someone who has the behavior to harm toddlers. It should be noted that this obligation comes alongside the authority of the director of the day care department under the law to order the termination of the transaction or the provision of services by a person whose conduct is harmful to toddlers.
Contact with parents:
Provisions were made for the duty of the day care center operator to inform the parents at the beginning of the year, during which in connection with a developmental plan, day care center agenda, standard food menu, it was also stipulated that if a parent committee is established, the day care center operator must hold regular meetings. In addition, it was determined that if a parent complained about the behavior of a staff member, the director of the day care center should find out without delay.
Reports of exceptional events and accidents:
It is stipulated that the operator of the residence hall will be obliged to report, in addition to any other duty to report exceptional events that occurred at the residence hall, including serious accidents.
safety:
Apart from the duty of the home operator to insure the home, safety conditions have been set that the home owner must comply with.
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Itzik Shmuli:
‘When I took office, I promised to do everything I could to put an end to promiscuity in early childhood. Therefore, we entered into force and budgeted the Cameras Law, we went out to national enforcement operations to locate dormitories that operate in violation of the law, and the most important move of all, we passed to the Knesset for approval after a hard fight the regulations that will make order. “For the first time, a proper ratio will be established between the number of caregivers and the number of children. For the first time, a training obligation and a” clean “record will be established. For the first time, normal safety standards will also be set to keep us most precious.”