December 15, 2011
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2011 December 14 - 20 [WELFARE]
No local gov’t lowers childcare standards as proposed by state |
The Welfare Ministry in September as an exception to the national standards approved 35 local governments, including 24 in Tokyo, to lower the minimum standards for the size of childcare centers as a measure to reduce the number of children waiting to enter such facilities.
However, as of December 5, none of the 35 municipalities followed the national decision, and 20 announced that they will not carry out the option to ignore the national standards.
This was revealed by Tokyo’s Machida City Assembly which made study on the 35 municipalities in response to a request made by its member Ikegawa Yuichi of the Japanese Communist Party.
As reasons for their disapproval of the nationally-set option are that this could lower the quality of childcare services (Fuchu City, Tokyo), that they cannot increase the number of childcare staff to property care for an increased number of children (Itabashi Ward, Tokyo), and that their daycare centers have already reached maximum capacity (Toshima Ward, Tokyo).
The former Liberal Democratic-Komei government in 2001, led by then Prime Minister Koizumi Jun’ichiro, launched the “zero-waiting list for childcare centers” project and promoted the enrollment of more children than the maximum limit in daycare facilities. The current government of the Democratic Party of Japan is following its predecessor government by lowering the minimum standards of daycare services instead of building more public institutions for childcare.
Japan’s minimum standards for the size of daycare facilities, set in 1948 right after the end of WWII, are very low compared to European countries.
The JCP is urging the national government to build more public daycare facilities in order to reduce the number of children on the waiting lists.
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