Every mother needs extra hands especially when it comes to childcare. If and when this time comes, special care needs to be given to the quality of helpers.

Today’s mothers, especially the working class ones are left with the choice of whether or not the helpers are needed. It is not only mandatory but necessary. For working mothers, day care is a must, a place where their young infants are catered for by paid caretakers while they are at work.

For a working mother, proper daycare system takes a lot of pressure off an already pressured lifestyle. Combining family with work has to be balanced. This is what day care does for the working mother. She has to be a master planner to succeed if she wants to keep her home intact.

Daycare system is also a good platform for formal education.

Children exposed to daycare are taught early, they are fast learners and could absorb quickly.

Proper daycare system also prevent accidents from occurring as kids left on their own in the house are exposed to self and external dangers.

However, the persistent negative stories surrounding day-care system especially in Nigeria have made many to wonder if day-care is a necessary evil by some helpers.

Every now and then one hears stories both in the developed societies and Africa of how these innocents are exposed to various abuses ranging from psychological, emotional, physical and others.

It is usually very worrisome hearing how infants are exposed to self medication by careers who in a bid to keep them “quiet” administer tranquilizers and sleeping syrups unknown to their parents and the authorities involved. The constant drug abuse could eventually lead to serious health problems in the children.

These innocent lads in daycare centres are sometimes exposed to psychological dangers which come in the form of violent or ill language from the carerers. They are shouted at and sometimes verbally abused. These in turn results  in low self esteem from a very tender age.

Again, some of these kids are left for long hours in the care of strangers and this often makes them feel abandoned, unloved and unwanted. The emotional scar often follows those kids to adulthood.

In some developed countries, there are reports of kids being sexually and physically abused by ex-child offenders who had not been properly checked by the authorities before engaging them as careers.

Many of such victims later, come forward to relate how careers have subjected them to all forms of abuse many years back unknown to their parents. These victims tell of how they have lived in that shadow of abuse that can only heal when those criminals are prosecuted.

In Nigeria, such stories are not always heard as it is rather seen as shameful, so the victims carry such abuse as a guilt.

But one disturbing issue that cannot be hidden about some day-care centres in Nigeria is the poor unhealthy environment in which they operate. Some so called daycare centres can easily pass for  prison cells as the poor lads are confined in poorly ventilated, unkempt rooms. This of course, leads to diseases and sicknesses.

Also there are allegations that children kept in some daycare centres are not fully given the needed nourishment, as they are left in the hands of people who really don’t care what these kids are given to eat. There is a detached attitude as they are only doing their jobs for money. Hence, kids are subjected to very poor diet which eventually results to ill health.

As it is typical of Nigerians, many people see daycare system as a lucrative venture and want to dabble into it with or without any professional knowledge thereby exposing the kids to a lot of problems.

That is why one has to appreciate the effort of Anambra State government towards reducing quacks in the operation of daycare, centes.

During a one-day workshop for all daycare centres in the state recently, wife of the state governor, Mrs Margret Peter Obi said the government would close all unregistered daycare centres in the state by January 2013.

She said issues concerning children in the society should be handled with utmost care and diligence, noting that the era of abuse of the children in daycare centres was over in the state. She spoke of the need to document the staff and environment of every daycare centre to avoid a situation where such centres are left in the hands of non-professionals.

If only other state governments should take a similar bold step to improve child care services n Nigeria.

Employees of daycare centres should be thoroughly screened; there should be regular check on these centres by government agencies,  while labour should advocate nursery bay system to aid and encourage nursing mothers. Besides, longer maternity leave period for working mothers, especially those in the private sector should be introduced.

Most importantly, owners of daycare centres should be encouraged to install closed Circuit Television System (CCTV), as a watching lence to monitor the internal activities of the centres.

All necessary steps must be taken towards improved child care services which are critical to children development.

Calista Ezeaku