Training for Hong Kong volunteer babysitters in urgent need of improvement
- Heartbreaking case of alleged child abuse by nanny from city neighbourhood scheme raises questions about screening, instruction and assessment
The ability to access reliable and affordable child care services is a pressing concern for under-pressure working parents. Some have, since 2008, taken advantage of a city scheme that provides neighbourhood babysitters to look after young children when parents are out.
It was needed to ensure infants were not left at home alone.
But an alarming recent case of alleged child abuse by one of the nannies has focused attention on the Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project and the need for it to be improved. Lawmakers have raised fresh questions. A nine-month-old girl was found unconscious while in the care of a babysitter in January and taken to hospital with a blood clot on the brain.
It is a heartbreaking case and we wish her a speedy recovery.
The nanny has been arrested and police inquiries are continuing. The facts will be established by the legal process. But the case has raised broader questions about the screening, training and assessment of the babysitters that must be tackled.
The nannies are regarded as volunteers and paid an hourly rate to cover expenses. Their recruitment and training is left to NGOs in receipt of government subsidies.
An expansion of the scheme and increase in babysitters’ pay will take place later this year as part of government efforts to push up the city’s dwindling birth rate by supporting working parents.
Nannies looking after children under three or those with special needs will receive HK$60 (US$7.67) an hour, up from HK$25, while those caring for older children will see their rate rise to HK$40. The number of beneficiaries of the service is to be doubled, reaching 20,000.
Training for babysitters, who care for children in their own homes, urgently needs improvement. There is currently a minimum of only four hours’ basic training and it varies according to the service provider.
Suspected abuse case sparks calls for training for Hong Kong ‘community nannies’
This will be increased to at least 14 hours, with an added four hours for those looking after children with special needs.
Service providers will be required to meet certain standards and to set up internal monitoring systems, including for emergency response. If there are breaches of the terms of their agreement, the Social Welfare Department may impose penalties.
The new measures are long overdue and a step in the right direction. But the revised scheme must be carefully monitored and regularly reviewed to ensure high standards are met.
Lawmakers have urged the government to change its mindset and treat the babysitters as professionals rather than volunteers. This would alter the nature of the scheme and might make recruitment more difficult.
But it should be considered. The safety and well-being of the children must be the absolute priority.
