Child daycare for only Tk 100 a month

When their daughter Jannatul Mawa was born two and a half years ago, Romana Begum and her husband struggled to make ends meet on their meagre Tk 6,000 monthly income.

Romana began wrapping products at small shops and working as a domestic help to boost her family's income.

But this made it difficult to juggle work and childcare as she had no relatives in the city and was forced to take her daughter with her to work.

In January, Romana discovered a low-cost daycare centre in Azimpur run by the Department of Women Affairs that provided day-long childcare including three meals for only Tk 100 per month.

Since then, Romana has been dropping her daughter off there for the past two months.

At first, she would feel upset after dropping her child off, but she soon realised that it allowed her to concentrate more on her work.

"My daughter enjoys playing with other children her age at the daycare, and they provide three meals a day at no extra cost," Romana explained.

Hasina Begum, a domestic help in Shilpapara, earns Tk 7,000 per month, while her husband is unable to work due to physical illness. 

Their family recently moved to Dhaka, and Hasina found it difficult to focus on work while worrying about her children's safety and care.

When she heard about a low-cost daycare centre in the area, she immediately enrolled her two children, ages three and four.

"My children have been going to the Khilgaon government daycare for the past five months and the caregivers have been good to them. Now, I can focus better on my work and it has made my life much easier as I no longer worry about my children all day," she explained.

The Daily Star spoke with a number of low-income parents who used government daycare services, and they all had positive things to say about their experience.

Private daycares, on the other hand, charge higher fees ranging from Tk 8,000 to Tk 10,000.

Samir Rahman*, a private service holder, told this correspondent that he pays Tk 6,000 per month plus an additional Tk 2,000 for food for his child to go to a private daycare centre in Mohammadpur for five and a half hours a day.

For low-income workers earning around Tk 7,000-8,000 per month, it is not feasible to spend such a substantial amount on a daycare given that they also have food and housing costs.

In Dhaka, the Department of Women Affairs (DWA) operates eight daycare centres for low-income families, which are located in Mogbazar, Kallyanpur, Mohammadpur, Khilgaon, Rampura, Azimpur, Faridabad, and Kamrangirchar.

These centres provide daytime care for children aged six months to six years from 8:30am to 5:30pm for a monthly fee of Tk 100.

There are also six daycares in the city for middle-income families that charge Tk 500 per month plus a Tk 500 admission fee.

According to its website, the DWA has set up a total of 43 daycare centres across the country, with 33 for low-income families and 10 for middle-income families.

This year, as of February, these 43 centres provided services to 1,728 children.

Each facility has a daycare officer, a teacher, a health instructor, two cooks, four caregivers, two security guards, and a cleaner on staff.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs has set up 20 additional daycare centres in 11 districts across the country, catering to children aged four months to six years.

These centres are divided into four age groups, with service fees based on the child's age and the parent's income level.

Speaking on the matter, DWA Director General Farida Pervin said daycares for low-income families have 80 seats and the ones for middle-income families have 60 seats each.

"Although the daily cost of keeping each child is Tk 90, thanks to government subsidies, we are able to charge low-income families only Tk 100," she added.

The official also said the DWA had already started setting up 20 new daycare centres while also planning on opening 60 additional centres across the country to meet the needs of women with families that make up the large female workforce.