As part of the celebration of the Day Care Worker’s Week, the Department of Social Welfare and Development National Capital Region (DSWD NCR) held its second Orientation Session on the New Guidelines on Registration and Granting Permit and Recognition to Public and Private Child Development Centers / Learning Centers offering Early Childhood Programs on July 19, 2019 in Pasay City, graced by Ms. Nelita Culong, DSWD-NCR Social Welfare Specialist for Children and Youth, and Ms. Rosalinda Orobia, Department Head of Pasay City’s City Social Welfare and Development Office.

The first part of the session tackled the Teacher Competency Standards. Ms. Khara Katherine O. Uy of the Early Childhood Care and Development (EECD) Council said that the key to a successful Child Development Center is to have reliable and highly capacitated educators, for they are the pillars of the institution. Another topic was discussed by Ms. Jenny E. Dueda, Head of the Early Childhood Education Division (ECED) of Muntinlupa, wherein she shared the best practices of their City in running Child Development Centers.

“Focusing on the teacher’s welfare is the key to having a smooth-sailing center. We also religiously coordinate with different offices and even private sectors for the trainings and seminars of oureducators,” said Ms. Dueda.

One of the most important tasks of day care workers is to conduct an early childhood assessment and evaluation of each student. With this, Ms. Dueda highlighted the importance of administering the EECD Checklist. Through completion of this checklist, a day care worker will be able to plan an appropriate curriculum and effective individualized instruction for each child.

Finally, Mr. Karl Jeffrey D. Sabalza of EECD Council discussed the standards and guidelines for center-based Early Childhood Programs for 0 to 4 years old Filipino children. This has been the highlight of the program as the primary concern of the participants is that most of them get this guideline confused with the guidelines for center-based Early Childhood Programs for 5 years old and above.

As prescribed in the Resolution No. 15-03 of the ECCD Council, Mr. Sabalza provided a comprehensive discussion on the content of the approved guidelines, specifically in the areas which the Child Development Centers shall continuously strive to demonstrate effective practices for early child care, development, and education. In addition, Mr. Sabalza discussed the Registration, Evaluation, and Granting of Permit and Recognition to Center-Based Eearly Childhood Care Programs.

The DSWD-NCR, with its mandate to promote and protect the welfare of the children, will continue to facilitate and provide technical assistance to Local Government Units and other partner-stakeholders in the implementation of programs that will strengthen the quality of services in early childhood care, development, and education. ###