Abstract The aim of the study is to investigate history of child care center and trends in child care center

in Malaysia at work place based child care centers, community based child care centers, institutions based child care centers and home based child care centers. Discussion will extend to analysis on whether the available laws and policies are adequate to sustain children protection in Malaysia through child care.

1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background of the study As we know, children are immature, naive and unable to care for themselves. According to this, children need of care, attention, protection and supervision. Not only that, the children is acquiring new motor abilities, developing thinking skills and learning emotional regulation, as well as social growth. Additionally, the childrens growing fine motor and cognitive skills allow them to draw geometric shapes, patterns and human figures and write some letters of the alphabet. Emotionally, the children is building greater self-regulation abilities and has to ability to verbally express what they are feeling instead of only using gestures or physical aggression. Socially, the children are entering a new world where they are making their first true friends based on similar interests. They have the skills to share and take turns and can show empathy toward others. By that, the case of study also showed the concept of child care in Malaysia and the law relating to it as to provide protection to children in need of care and protection. The study conducted by the National Family and Population Board in 1999 reported that only a small percentage of parents were using child care centers ; 9.2% of the children younger than one year old, 13.3 % of the 1-2 year olds and 15.1% of the 3-4

year olds were in a child care centers. In 2006, the National Family and Population Board conducted another study on child care. Unfortunately, this study analyzed the data for children below seven years of age and not for those below four years of age. Nevertheless, the data indicate that the percentage of parents using child care centers was still low, being only 10.6 %. The percentage of parents in urban areas using child care centers was much higher than their rural counterparts with 12.9% of urban parents compared with 5.9% of rural parents are using child care centers. The findings of the National Family and Population Boards study in 1999 indicated that affordability was a significant factor in the type of child care used. While 8.9% of the families with a household income of RM 4000 and above used a child care services, only 4.9% of those with a household income of less than RM 2000 did so. This result show that the Government should aware of the cost of child care and the burden the parents, especially those in the low socio-economic group, have to bear. To overcome this problem, a pilot project was launched in April 2006 which involved the Association of Registered Child Care Providers, Malaysia as the local community. 1.2 Research problem Research problem this study to investigate about: i. History of child care center in Malaysia ii.Trends in child care center in Malaysia at work place based child care center iii.Trends in child care center in Malaysia at community place based child care center iv.Trends in child care center in Malaysia at institutions place based child care center v. Trends in child care center in Malaysia at home based child care center

1.3 Significant of the study The purpose of this study is to provide the teachers with a complete history of child care center in Malaysia and to develop their ability to understanding about trends in child care center with different types of settings. Thus, the results of this study will benefit the students, the teachers and the school administrators. This study is significant because it will provide the facts about the history and trends in child care with different types of settings.

2.0 Literature review 2.1 History of child care center in Malaysia The Ministry of Social Welfare and UNICEF conducted a study in the year 1982. As a result of the study show that the need to enhance the quality of childcare among the nursery/childcare provider especially in the area of food, healthy environment, mental development and training for the child minders. Continuously, in early 1984, the government sets up a special unit to initiate the formulation of the Childcare Centers Act, this project was under the funding of Bernard Van Leer Foundation. During phase 1 (1984 1987) of this project, the team looked specifically on the advocacy matter and the dissemination of information while phase 2 (1988 1991), the team tackled the issue of registration and enforcement. In 1 Mac 1985, the Act was first implemented in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur followed by the other states from 1 Feb 1986. The aim of the Act is to maintain the stated minimum standard of the childcare centers. It covers issues on registration, monitoring and inspection of the Childcare Centers. The philosophy behind the Childcare Center Act 1984 is firstly to provide care and education for children in the preschool years especially those below 4 years old. Secondly to enable mothers to work and to provide support to them. According to this Act, every

Child Care Centre must be registered with the Department of Social Welfare. The stated aim of this Act is to protect the interest of safety of the children against any form of abuse or neglect. The Childcare Center Act 1984 has been reviewed in recent years and its amended version has just been passed by the Parliament giving rise to the Care Centers (Amendment) Act 2007. There are various amendments in this new Act which will be explained in later sections in this report. Childcare centers have undergone many changes in the last few years and many more changes is expected in the next one or two years. Among the changes are the settings up of government supported Community Childcare Center, the subsidized Work-place Childcare Center and the formulation of the Quality Improvement Accreditation System (QIAS). Currently, childcare centers in Malaysia are mainly run by the private sectors. The biggest government sector providing childcare centers is the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development, specifically the KEMAS. Not only that, running preschool classes (for the 4-6 years old), KEMAS also run a total number of 290 TASKA (for the 0-4 years old) with an enrolment of 4033 as of 2007.

2.2 Trends in child care center in Malaysia 2.2.1 Work place based child care center The work place based child care center is a child care center at a work place which receiver ten or more children as stated in Child Care Centre Act (Act 308). According to Heng (2008), women accounted for 48% of the working age population of 15 to 64 years, and the female labor force participation rate has increased from 44.8 % in 2000 to 46.1% in 2006. The number of women employed during the same period increased from

3.3 million to 3.6 million. Its share to total employment also increased from 35.6% in 2000 to 36.7% in 2006. With the rapid expansion of the country economy, the country needs the participation of women in its economic activities. It is causes MWFCD is promoting the setting up of childcare at the workplace. Currently statistic shows that there are only 112 childcare centers set up by employers in workplace, 26 of these set up by the private sectors, 86 by federal government, state government or statutory body. The government has agreed to provide incentives in the form of a RM80,000 grant for renovation and furnishing childcare centre which is set up within the government officers. A subsidy of RM180 per month would be given to government servants with monthly salary <RM2000 who send their kids to these centers. MWFCD is also campaigning the private sectors especially the corporate giants to provide childcare facilities at the workplace for their employees. Incentives includes the 10% tax exemption on the cost of building the childcare centers for a period of 10 years.

2.2.2 Community based child care center In Child Care Centre Act (Act 308), community based child care center which is a child care center which receives ten or more children in a particular area and which receives aid from the Federal Government or a State Government. MWFCD has set up Community Childcare Centers in Malaysia to provide quality childcare to families from low income groups, both in urban and rural areas. All these centers use a similar curriculum set by MWFCD. These centers would provide benchmark to the other childcare centers. Community Childcare Centers is conceptualized based on the active

participation of local community, parents, children, governmental agencies as well as the private organizations. MWFCD envisions that these Community Childcare Centers would manage by voluntary associations in collaboration with or on a joint venture basis with the private sectors. MWFCD plans to set up ten new Community Childcare Centers throughout the country every year. As of July 2007, 4 centers are already in operation. An amount of RM119, 000 x 10 centers is being budged yearly for the setting up of these centers. To hasten the process of setting up more community childcare centers, MWFCD is currently preparing a paper to suggest that each parliamentary area sent up a Community Childcare Centers. Once this materializes, each district would have a Community Childcare Centers; this would definitely encourage more parents to send their children there. As in the Workplace Childcare Centers, families who send their children to Community Childcare Centers would receive a subsidy of RM 180 per child if the family income is below RM 2000 in the urban and below RM 1200 for those in the rural area. A launching grant of RM55, 000 will also be given to interested party.

2.2.3 Institutions based child care center Institutional child care also known as nurseries. In Child Care Centre Act (Act 308), institution based child care center which is a child care center other than a child care center such as work place, home-based and community child care center which receives ten or more children. This Act required institution-based child care centers to register. This Act is ensure the health and well-being of children and staff while the Minister was given the power to make regulations pertaining to, for instance registration, qualification,

issuing certificates of child minders, and health and nutrition care of the children in the centers. However, Heng (2008) said, the number of registered institution based child care centers dropped from 446 in 2004 to 306 in 2007. On record, there were 2,176 includes the 306 child care centers that registered in 2007 that had at one time or another registered with the Department of Social Welfare. The Department of Social Welfare has to ascertain the reasons for (a) leaving the industry, (b) the reluctance of people to go into this industry, and (c) the disinclination of child care operators to register their centers. This situation needs to be investigated for further action.

2.2.4 Home based child care centers Many centers that there were many centers that did not register and there were homebased child care centers and centers run by government agencies which were not required by law to register. However, home-based child care centers which could receive up to nine children have to be register with Child Care Centre Act (Act 308) in 1984. The objectives of the home based childcare center are to assist working parents so that their children get good care, enhancement of standard of living of the family, provide opportunities for people who love children to work in the childcare center and encouraging involvement of the society in the caring and nursing of the children.

3.0 Methodology 3.1 Primary data collection Quantitative and qualitative methodology is a compressive way to reveal the performance. The quantitative data provides analysis of the current status of implementation and the qualitative data seeks for explanations and reasons for certain performance through the quantitative data. Primary data collection included in-person interviews with center directors and classroom observations. The observations explore how quality varies across classrooms, while the interviews with directors explore why quality varies across classrooms. Two instruments measuring somewhat different aspects of the classroom environment were used to guide the observations. Both instruments have been widely used to measure quality for the purpose of research and for technical assistance. The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) includes 10 items and three subscales that evaluate quality by the level of emotional support, classroom organizational structure for learning, and support for cognitive and language development (Pianta, La Paro, and Hamre 2008). To complement the CLASS, the data collected during the observation also included 23 items that form three subscales of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, Revised (ECERSR). These items measure quality through space and furnishings, activities in the classroom, and program structure (schedule balance) (Harms, Clifford, and Cryer 2005). Together, the CLASS and ECERSR document the materials and activities available in the classroom and the interactions between teachers and children. Therefore, the mix of both observation and interview data permitted a rich exploration of the beliefs, experiences, perceptions and concerns of center directors.

3.2 Secondary data collection According to Mastura and Nur Amirah (2013), the focus of attention globally to increase number of young children gain experiences from non-familial setting and growing demad for out-of-home childcare. This situation is changes when women follow economic demand-workforce and recognition of the critical importance of educational experiences during the early years. Therefore, the objective of the research is to assess the quality physical environment of two selected child care centers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia using ITER-S assesment. From the ITER-S assessment, majority of infant and toddler classroom did not meet standard of good early cares which applies almost in all areas but the centers served well-balances meal to the children and feeding time is practiced. Besides, both child care centers conducted many activities such as art activities, watching televisions, circle time and physical play. However, talking and listening are promoted through the interactions of child caregivers to children and between the peers. The challenges in using ITER-S in Malaysian Context is to ascertain wether the items in ITER-S fit into the socio-cultural Malaysian perspective and whether the required information could be collected in the time available. However, ITER-S is still good for use in research and program evaluation. Results and scores gained can be used by program directors to administer improvement of programs and can be useful for monitoring quality as well as to be use in training programs.

4.0 Summary The growth in children is crucial in ensuring they acquire greater confidence, motivation, support and encouragement through a phase in the development of children. The development of the children constantly through their own observations of the

environment as well as tutoring and coaching from the best trainers whether in workplace, home, community and institutional child care center.

5.0 Recommendations Studies of neuroscientists have shown the impact the environment has on childrens development in the first three years of their lives (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000; Zero to Three, 2000). Hence, due attention must be given to ensure that the child is given quality child care by his caregivers, whether they are his or her parents or child care providers. All children, irrespective their socio-economic status, ethnicity, religion, gender, and political beliefs of their parents, must be given the same quality care so that they are not deprived of the windows of opportunity in which to nurture emotional, physical, and intellectual growth. Therefore, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development appointed a Committee of experts in the field, comprising child care providers, trainers, academicians, and experts in early childhood care and education, in November 2006 to develop a certificate in child care in accordance with the National Occupational Skill Standard (NOSS) with the collaboration of the Department of Skill Development in the Ministry of Human Resources. Studied neuroscience studies stated that the impact the environment towards development of child during the first three years of life, so the government should ensure that every child get the opportunity for development. The Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), which Malaysia ratified in 1995, categorically states that every child has the right to development, child care should, like preschool education, be a means to enable children to develop their potential for their own sake and to contribute towards the human capital of the nation and not as a service to enable mothers to work. Therefore,

many parents have to give attention and alert for giving appropriate developmental experiences to their kids. On the other hand, to establish a child care centers with effectively, a checklist has been designed for themselves and for officers in the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) to evaluate the centers. Due to overcome the percentage of centers that are currently registered is small, so DSW have to ensure centers are register first before implementing Quality Improvement and Accreditation System (QIAS). This action was quite effectively in terms of benefits to stakeholders.

6.0 References Adams, G. C., & Kisker, E. E. (2010). Understanding quality in context: Child care centers, communities, markets, and public policy. Washington, DC: Urban Institute. Chiam, H. K. (2008). Child Care in Malaysia: Then and Now. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 2(2), 31-41. Early childhood care and education policy implementation review. Retrieved from http://www.tadika.org/Malaysian_ECCE_Policy_Review_24_Jan_2008.pdf Laws of Malaysia. Act 308. Child care centre act 1984. Retrieved from

http://www.agc.gov.my/Akta/Vol.%207/Act%20308%20%20Child%20Care%20C entre%20Act%201984.pdf

Mastura Badzis & Nur Amirah Adnan (2013). Using ITER-S in assessing quality environment : a case study at two selected child care centers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Selayang : International Islamic University Malaysia

7.0 Appendix

Appendix A :Type of child care parents used by children below 4 years of age in 1999. Percentage of parents

Appendix B : Payment of Child Care according to parents income in 2006 : Percentage of parents