Ministry Moves To Stamp Out Illegal Nurseries
Parents who send their children to unlicensed nurseries could risk prosecution, warns 7 Days.
The Ministry of Social Affairs Child Department is implementing a new child protection law, expected to come into effect later this year which will see it refer cases of unlicensed nurseries directly to the police.
Mooza Al Shoomi, head of the department said, "parents who are found sending their children to these institutions could then be charged with endangering the lives of others."
She went on to say, “parents bear the primary responsibility for this violation as they are the ones that send their children to these nurseries.The penalty could even be prison, according to the judge’s discretion.”
According to the authorities, there are two types of illegal nurseries currently operating in the UAE – daycare services providing developmental and entertainment and women who just accept children into their houses.
Al Shoomi said, “there is no supervision of these activities, they lack health and safety requirements and do not have authorised people working in them. Anything can happen to a child inside these places.”
In a bid to stop the practice, the Ministry began fining illegal nurseries last year. Those found running nursery services without a license can expect to face a fine of Dhs10,000, which, when the new draft law is approved will increase to Dhs100,000.
