For reliable childcare services

Japan Press Weekly

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

For reliable childcare services

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

Prime Minister Kan Naoto is planning to establish a new system to integrate public kindergartens with daycare centers as part of his goals to create "strong economy", "strong national finance", and "strong social services".

In late June, the Democratic Party of Japan-led government drew up an outline of the new system. Taking over the policy of the previous government, the new system will decrease the government's responsibility for the childcare program and will encourage the private sector to take an increased share of childcare, turning into a business industry.

The new system will also enable the central government to shift its responsibility onto local governments by doing away with the budget allotted for child-rearing in the form of subsidies.

The reason why there are so many children being on the waiting lists for childcare centers is not because of the system itself. It is because the former Liberal Democratic and Komei-led government promoted a "deregulation" policy in regard to the public nursery program. The government neglected to increase the number of authorized childcare centers and crammed children into the existing facilities even if the number of children exceeded the capacity of the centers. What the present government should do is to increase the number of authorized centers to which parents can feel safe in enrolling their children, and not force children into overcrowded facilities.

It has been ten months since the DPJ kicked out the LDP out of power. However, the DPJ government has pushed ahead with a further "deregulation" of childcare services. It has eliminated the minimum standards regarding the size of childcare facilities and outsourced public meal services for the children.

Health and Welfare Minister Nagatsuma Akira in the newspaper Mainichi of May 23 said, "Do children really need to have mattresses or futons to take a nap? They can sleep directly on the floor." This remark provoked parents' anger. The Social Democratic Party has also moved ahead promoting the new system with the DPJ.

The Japanese Communist Party has worked together with many parents and nursery school staff in order to defend and improve the public childcare system. To solve the problem of children on waiting lists, the JCP is calling for the construction within three years of authorized childcare canters to take care of 300,000 more children, the improvement of the childcare quality and physical environment, and provision of financial resources for the childcare program without imposing an extra tax hike. In the Diet, JCP Koike Akira succeeded in getting the government to promise to consider using state-owned land for the construction of new childcare centers.

- Akahata, July 8, 2010