JCP holds symposium on solving issue of children waiting to enter child-care center

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

JCP holds symposium on solving issue of children waiting to enter child-care center

The Japanese Communist Party on May 18 in Tokyo hosted a symposium with about 200 participants attending to discuss the issue of children on waiting lists to enter childcare centers.

Participants exchanged their views and activities on childcare services.

JCP Commission Chair Koike Akira as a panelist in the symposium said that the government should change from the “structural reform” policy which forced childcare centers to accept children beyond their fixed capacity and reduced the number of public childcare centers.

Koike also stated that by just using 400 billion yen from the national budget, it will be possible to build new childcare centers that will provide care for another 300,000 children, offer full-time positions to non-regular nursery staff, and improve all childcare service workers’ working conditions.

Koike reported that in the Diet, he received a favorable response from the Finance Ministry to his proposal that the government use state-owned land to construct new childcare centers.

Teikyo University Professor Murayama Yuichi, another panelist in the symposium, pointed out that the continuous existence of children waiting to enter childcare centers violates the Child Welfare Law, and that the government should construct more childcare centers in a well-planned manner.

- Akahata, May 19, 2010