DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BEGIN WITH EARLY CHILD EDUCATION

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (Bernama) -- Developing the nation and its people
should begin with early childhood education, said Prime Minister Najib Razak.

"Every child is precious and children are assets to our society. It is the
most valuable resource of the nation. I believe that developing a nation and its
people begins with early childhood education," he said when opening the
Malaysian International Early Childcare and Education Conference, on 'Developing
Human Capital Begins With Children', here Tuesday.

Also present were Najib's wife who is also the National Permata (Gem)
programme patron, Rosmah Mansor, wife of the Pakistani Prime Minister Begum
Fauzia Yousaf Raza Gilani, the first lady of Zambia, Thandiwe Banda and wife of
Standing Deputy Prime Minister of Laos Bounkongmany Lengsarad.

Najib said while it was the duty of the parents to ensure the child had
opportunities to develop, it was also the government's responsibility to help
parents bring the potential to fruition.

"In developing a child's potential, we are in reality developing the human
capital of the child and of the nation. In carrying out this task, we are
enabling the child to grow holistically so that the child is equipped with
abilities, knowledge and skills to become a productive member of the nation," he
said.

Najib said the family's role had been recognised as being very crucial in
shaping and developing children to become resourceful and resilient citizens.

"I wish to re-emphasize the significant responsibility of the family towards
human development and enhancement of the cultural, moral and social values of
their children.

"Parental guidance is most often in the form of setting good examples for
the children to emulate, and this is best done at the child's early age," he
said.

Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, said economists had long believed
that investment in early education was a good strategy in developing human
capital which in turn, was an important source for economic growth.

"Children are the future generations who have the potential to drive the
economy of the country as leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers and
economists," he said.

He said the challenge now was to work together to ensure that all children
had the best possible start to life through quality care and learning in the
earliest years as the benefits in the investment would be seen in future years
of their lives.

He said the government had also identified that accessibility and
affordability were the major issues pertaining to early childhood education.

He said the government had given a 10 per cent tax reduction per annum to
employers who set up childcare centres at the workplace on the cost of
establishment of the centre for a period of 10 years as an incentive.

"Government agencies that provide childcare centres at the workplace will be
given RM80,000 grant for renovation and furnishing the childcare centre. I would
like to urge the private sector to fulfill their corporate social responsibility
by providing child care facilities at the workplace for their employees," he
said.

Najib said thus, the government had now formulated the National Policy for
Early Childhood Education and Care and had also accepted Permata's curriculum as
the guiding principle for the national curriculum.

He said the government had decided to roll out the Permata project to
government and statutory bodies' chilcare centres and an additional RM150
million was allocated to Permata to facilitate its implementation.

"I understand by the end of this year, more than 300 childcare centres will
be rolled out as Permata centres. Although the adoption of Permata's curriculum
has not been made compulsory nationally as yet, nevertheless, I would like to
encourage private childcare centres to start using it," he said.

The government had allocated RM20 million for the Permata pilot project
under the Ninth Malaysia Plan and within two years, Permata had already
established 14 centres throughout the country. (US$1=RM3.60)
-- BERNAMA