'Mums Want Child Care Services At All Schools'

A community group on Sunday said women from grassroots families have a Mother’s Day wish for the government, and that is to introduce after-hours child care at all schools.

The Society for Community Organisation (SoCO) interviewed 208 mothers from grassroots families this month, and found that over 90 percent of them were unable to take on jobs because of the need to look after their children at home.

The group’s deputy director, Sze Lai-shan, said there’s been a lack of child care services provided by the Social Welfare Department and non-governmental organisations.

“Besides, existing child care services are not comprehensive and cannot meet the needs of the families. For example, they don’t pick up the children [from schools] to the venues and they don’t have tutorial classes for the children,” she said.

Sze said the majority of mothers surveyed preferred having child care services at schools which can provide one-stop support for their kids.

The government had earlier said that it plans to introduce an On-site After School Care Service Pilot Programme, allowing students to stay at school until 6pm.

But Sze said the plan only involves 50 schools in its initial phase, which is simply not enough to meet demand.

“It should cover almost all of the schools, from kindergartens to at least primary schools, in every district,” she said.

“Women who are in poverty want to have a job to increase their income, so there’s an urgent need. The government should speed up the process.”