Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan on Thursday called for the passage of a bill seeking to provide each daycare worker in government-sponsored centers a teaching supplies allowance of PHP5,000 per school year, along with continuing skills training.

In a statement, Yamsuan said workers in government daycare centers (DCCs) and child development centers (CDCs) play an indispensable role in helping Filipino children have the best possible start in life through early learning experiences and activities that promote their social and emotional development.

“Workers in government DCCs and CDCs serve dual roles of being second parents and educators to children in their formative years. They encourage kids to learn and be creative, teach them how to interact with others, and even help with their mealtimes and nap times,” he said.

“Unfortunately, they have to make do with low pay and lack of financial support for the expenses they need to carry out these immense responsibilities,” he added.

Barangay daycare workers receive PHP500 a month from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), while local government units (LGUs) provide them with a monthly honorarium of at least PHP1,000.

DSWD data also show that nearly nine out of 10 daycare workers hold non-permanent and even voluntary positions.

In a meeting with daycare workers in Parañaque City last month, Yamsuan found out that among the immediate concerns of the daycare workers was their “ever-increasing out-of-pocket expenses” for learning materials and teaching supplies.

“To be effective teachers, daycare workers already coping with low wages often shoulder the expenses for the teaching aids they use and hand out to kids under their care. Our measure aims to address this shortcoming,” he said.

Under House Bill No. 10224 that Yamsuan filed last March 30, each DCC in will be provided with a PHP5,000 teaching supplies allowance per school year.

The proposed Care for Child Development and Day Care Workers Act also provides for a system of continuing skills training and knowledge enhancement programs for day care workers to ensure that children in CDCs and DCCs receive quality care and education.

The program shall be implemented by the DSWD and the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council in coordination with the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

The proposed measure also calls for the establishment and maintenance of a unified and regularly updated database of all government-sponsored CDCs and DCCs and their respective workers by the ECCD Council in partnership with LGUs.

The amount necessary to fund the benefits of daycare workers shall be charged to the Special Education Fund, and the National Tax Allotment of the LGUs concerned, which have significantly increased over the years following the Supreme Court ruling on the Mandanas-Garcia case. (PNA)