How Negligence Is Turning Daycares into Abuse Centers

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In today’s world, modern parenting has led to the rise of Day care centres so that when parents go to their work, someone can take good care of their children in their absence. However, instead of care, children are facing terrifying abuse in these day care centres, with cases ranging from beatings to sexual assault being reported from various facilities. The latest case is from Noida, Uttar Pradesh, where a 15-month-old girl was beaten up in day care, intentionally thrown on the ground and all this was captured in the CCTV installed inside the room. The child bore bite marks all over the body.

This terrible incident came to light when the parents of a 15-month-old girl noticed some unusual marks on her body. At first they thought these marks were the results of an allergic reaction, but after consulting a doctor they found out that they were bite marks. Following the revelation, the angry parents went to check the CCTV footage of the day care centre, which left them in shock. In the footage, the attendant is seen hitting the girl on her face and intentionally making her fall. The girl is also seen crying.

This incident took place in the day care center of Paras Tierra Society located in Sector 137 of Noida. This center is run by the residents’ association of the society, just like many other residential societies in Delhi-NCR. After this horrifying incident, there is an atmosphere of fear in the entire society.

The parents of the 15-month-old child filed a complaint in Noida sector 147 and lodged an FIR, following which the attendant was arrested. The incident raises a key concern over why such cases are increasing? What kind of negligence is leading to such harassment in the name of child care.

Previous Cases Of Day Care Abuse

As the need for day care centers grows, so do the number of untoward incidents happening in them. A case of sexual abuse came to light on earlier this year on July 16, from a day care centre in Mumbai. The husband of the woman who ran the center was arrested under the POCSO Act (the law against child sexual abuse) for inappropriately touching and threatening a 7-year-old girl.

In January 2024, a 4-year-old child died in Bangalore’s Kalyan Nagar due to the day care’s carelessness. The child fell from the first floor of the day care center, which led to her death. There have been other such cases where children are suffering because of the negligence of day care staff.

Why Are Cases Of Abuse Rising?

The biggest reason for the increase in child abuse cases is the negligence that parents commit knowingly or unknowingly. Parents pay more attention to how close the day care center is from home than to safety.

Seeing the growth of day care centers, people have made it a mere means of earning money. Perhaps this is the reason why many day care centers hire untrained people at low salaries instead of trained educators and assign them the task of feeding, changing and putting the babies to sleep. Often background checks are not done sufficiently. In some cases, employees are appointed informally, verbally, without any identity proof or police verification.

Day Care Laws In India

There is no Central law for preschools and daycare in India, and regulations vary widely across states. Some states, such as Tamil Nadu, have created their own guidelines, but many states have no regulations in place for the sector, according to a report by India Today.

To address this problem, the Play Schools (Regulation) Bill, 2024, has been introduced in Parliament. The bill proposes to create a national registry of all play schools, set minimum qualifications for teachers, and enforce safety standards. Penalties have also been provided for violation of these rules.

International Laws And Standards For Day Care

In other countries of the world, the rules and regulations are very strict in this matter. For example, in Singapore, it is mandatory that every preschool teacher is certified by ECDA. There, the process of training and certification is done under a centralised system, due to which no one can hire an unqualified employee. Doing so is illegal.

In England, there is a legal framework called ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’. It determines what will be the ratio of children and caregivers. For example: there should be at least one adult for every 3 children under two years of age. Also, the educational qualification of the staff is mandatory. There, the centers are inspected regularly and the report is made public, so that parents can see the complete record of the center before enrolling their child.

The incident from Noida rings as a warning bell for working parents to run thorough checks about that day care centre before enrolling their child into one. Parents must not make their decisions based on word of mouth. Further, India needs strict laws like other countries to prevent the rise of such cases, so that any parent who has to stay out of the house for hours due to work does not have to compromise with the life and safety of their children.

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