DAY Care Centers in the barangays are vital institutions that facilitate the smooth transition of children from home based care and learning to community or school based education.
This is the motivation behind the proposal of City Councilor Leandro Yangot Jr. calling for an upgrade of all barangay day care centers in the City of Baguio.
Under his proposal entitled, “Raising the quality, value and extent of barangay day care centers in the City of Baguio”, the alderman revealed several national laws as well as local laws aimed at providing for the protection and development of children and the responsibility of the local government to promote the general welfare of its constituents as provided for under Republic Act 7160 otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991.
As explained in the proposed legislative measure Section 2 of Republic Act No. 10410 also known as “The Early Years Act of 2013” provides for, “the promotion of the rights of children to survival, development and special protection with the full recognition of the nature of childhood as well as the need to provide developmentally appropriate experiences to address their needs, and to support parents in their roles as primary caregivers”. Similarly, in Section 3 of Republic Act No. 8980 entitled “Early Childhood Care and Development Act” it provides to facilitate a smooth transition of children from the care and education they are provided for in the home to community or school based setting and to the primary school.
Also, in Section 3 of Republic Act No. 6972 otherwise known as the Barangay Level Total Development and Protection of Children Act, “the total development and protection of children for day care centers shall be provided for children up to six (6) years of age”, and finally in City Ordinance No. 75 series of 2009 also known as the Children’s Welfare and Protection Code of the City of Baguio, the said development and protection shall be provided for children up to five (5) years of age, with the consent of parents.
The proposed Ordinance of Councilor Yangot seeks to further expand the support being provided by the city government to barangay day care centers such that, “ (1) the city government shall provide the basic needs of every day care center pupil but not limited to the following: (a) textbooks (ration 1:1), (b) regular school uniform, (c) physical education uniform, (d) prescribed workbooks, (e) school supplies, (f) rain coats, (g) rain boots, (h) hygiene kits, (i) chairs for kids, (j)table for kids, (k) educational toy box, (l) manuals and (m) miscellaneous needs. The said proposed measure shall also encourage the city government to provide barangay day care centers with audio-visual equipment and instructional materials as well as other learning materials including toys, game boards, flashcards, etc.
In the event of its approval the proposed ordinance designates the Office of the City Social and Development as the lead agency and implementing office and directs the creation of a technical working group that will be chaired by the Chief Executive of the city as well as other concerned personalities and government offices and departments.