KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 — In sympathising with the predicament of working parents, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today announced that detailed standard operating procedures (SOP) will be issued soon for childcare centres to resume services.
Ismail said these SOPs would be announced once the Health Ministry and the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development once they are prepared.
“I understand several childcare centres had to open because the parents needed to go to work; when both parents are working, there is no place to send their children to be taken care of while they are at their jobs.
“However, to ensure the safety of children within these taskas and centres, the Health Ministry and the Women, Family, and Community Development Ministry will release an SOP together, it is still being discussed,” he said.
Ismail made these comments during his daily non-health press conference broadcasted from Putrajaya, when asked about certain childcare centres which have resumed operations due to overwhelming demand by working parents.
Yesterday, Health Director General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had expressed apprehension towards the idea of childcare centres reopening, likening the risk of such places similar to that of public gatherings, adding how more studies are needed into the matter before a decision is made.
