Japan Press Weekly

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2012 May 9 - 15 [WELFARE]

JCP Takahashi criticizes gov’t for abandoning responsibility for child-care programs

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Takahashi Chizuko on May 10 at a House of Representatives plenary session said that introduction of a new child-care system will lead to a further deterioration of public child-care services while accelerating the for-profit private sectors’ participation in the child-care industry.

On the same day, the Lower House began discussions regarding three bills related to the establishment of the new system which have been submitted by the government with the aim to reduce the number of children waiting to enter childcare centers.

Using her question time, Takahashi pointed out that the new child-care system intends to exempt local governments from their responsibility to provide child-care services and allow more profit-seeking corporations to enter this field. She said, “The only way for corporations to make more profit is to lower the quality of services by cutting child-care workers’ wages and raising service fees.”

As measures to eliminate children on the waiting lists, Takahashi demanded that the government build a sufficient number of public daycare centers for children, and not privatize child-care services or ease the minimum requirements for operating nursery schools and daycare centers.

However, Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko only said, “Quality childcare services will surely be offered by various business entities.”

The proposed system will allow pre-primary schools to accept children aged three and under who account for 80% of the total number of children on waiting lists for daycare centers.

Takahashi asked Education Minister Hirano Hirofumi, who has control over nursery schools, about the number of schools willing to accept such children. Hirano answered, “I’m not sure of the number.”