EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT EQUALS QUALITY HUMAN CAPITAL

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (Bernama) -- Early childhood development is the
foundation of quality human capital, says Rosmah Mansor.

The wife of the prime minister said it had the highest returns in economic
development and was the most cost-effective way to reduce poverty and foster
economic growth.

"There is sufficient evidence to show that the first five years of a child's
life, often called 'formative years', are absolutely critical for the
development, performance and success of the child," she said in her keynote
address at the Malaysian International Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)
Conference here Wednesday.

About 700 participats from 42 countries attended the three-day conference
which was officiated by Prime Minister Najib Razak Tuesday.

The participants included the wives of three heads of governments. They were
the Pakistani prime minister's wife, Begum Fauzia Yousaf Raza Gilani, First
Lady of Zambia, Thandiwe Banda, and Laos standing deputy prime minister's wife,
Bounkongmany Lengsarad.

Rosmah, who is patron and chairman of the Permata Negara (National
Gem)Working Committee on Policy Implementation, said most parents in the country
were missing out on providing their children -- below five years of age -- with
quality early education and care to develop fully and achieve their maximum
potential.

"It is our singular objective that no child is ever deprived of the
opportunity to learn.

"In most countries, children most likely to be left out include, among
others, those residing in isolated areas, the disabled, ethnic minorities, from
poor family background or single parents," she added.

Rosmah noted that these children were most vulnerable to abuse and neglect
as they might end up not going to school or getting formal education at all.

"What we are doing through the Permata programme is to fill the missing gap
for development, education and care of children from birth to the age of five in
order to provide the continuum of care before they attend pre-school and the
formal schooling system.

"I envisage Permata to be a one-stop centre, as a safe haven for young
children to learn and play, and for older children to do their homework and
spend constructive and productive leisure and recreation time as an after-school
facility," she said.

She also would want Permata to be a learning and knowledge centre for the
parents of the children who were enrolled, to gain more knowledge on positive
parenting skills and healthcare.

Speaking to reporters later, Rosmah said Permata was upgrading its centres
with an allocation of RM150,000 for each centre.

The staff at the centres are now undergoing training on Permata's syllabus
at the Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris in Tanjung Malim, Perak.

"Insya Allah, we will upgrade this first...later on, if the private centre
wants to follow the Permata syllabus, they are welcome. They can come to us and
we will help them to set up the centres," she said.

Rosmah said, by the end of the year, over 300 Kemas centres would be known
as Permata, and by next year, all Kemas centres would follow the Permata
syllabus. (US$1=RM3.60)
-- BERNAMA