Around 25 per cent of the 60 complaints received during the past year by the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education (DQSE), within the Ministry for Education and Employment, were related to the non-compliance of childcare centres with carer to child ratios and/or with going above the restrictions for the number of children at the centres according to Education and Employment Minister Evarist Bartolo. The DQSE is responsible for the regulation of general education, including Child Care services.

The Malta Independent reported yesterday the factors that have raised concern at childcare centres, witnessed by people who work in the sector. These concerns include non-compliance with carer to child ratios, parental neglect and the aggressive handling of children, amongst others.

The Malta Independent on Sunday contacted Mr Bartolo, asking him whether these points highlighted by the child carers have also been received by the Ministry in the form of complaints.

Carer to child ratio policies say that for children aged up to 12 months, there should be no more than three children per carer. For children aged between 13 and 24 months, there should be no more than five children per carer and where children aged between 25 and 36 months are concerned, or for mixed aged groups, there should be no more than six children per carer. In such mixed age groups, however, there can only be one child under the age of 18 months.

"Approximately 25 per cent of complaints received were related to non-compliance with expected carer to child ratios and/or with the maximum allowed number of children at a specific centre, whilst 17 per cent of complaints referred to possible negligence by carers," Mr Bartolo said.

Last week, a child carer who wrote anonymously on Facebook said that it is sometimes two carers with 17 to 20 children in a room, or one carer with about 10 babies in the morning. "The owners [of the centre] always want to see how they are going to save money," she said.

Approximately 17 per cent of complaints were related to concerns about hygiene, said Mr Bartolo, and some 22 per cent to incidents amongst children, mainly biting, "as may be expected at this very tender developmental age."

The Minister went on to say that none of the complaints were related to alleged neglect or signs thereof on the part of parents. "It is worth noting that in cases of alleged abuse, it is standard practice that a referral is filed with the designated authority (Appoġġ), and for confidentiality purposes these might not necessarily always reach the DQSE," he added.

"Parenting has always been - but perhaps has become even more so - a very complex and intricate responsibility and is predominantly acquired through one's own childhood and through 'learning by doing', when admittedly many of us struggle to reach the required balance in life amidst the various commitments, which allows this acquisition to occur adequately," he said. "Anecdotally, such challenges may have subtly transpired more, but the DQSE has no hard evidence of what is being claimed with regard to specific negligence on the part of the parents of children using Child Care services."