Around 1,300 daycares have been licensed since January — ministry

AMMAN — The number of licensed daycares has reached to 1,304 since the beginning of 2018, of which 565 are governmental, an official said on Sunday, adding that Jordan will be among the first countries in the region to legislate the home-based daycares.

“The absence of daycares in the educational sector, which is the largest employer for women, constitutes a major challenge for female educators,” said Ashraf Khreis, spokesperson of the Social Development Ministry, adding that this also violates Article 72 of the Labour Law which requires institutions with over 20 female employees to offer daycares for their children whose ages are less than four.

“The inspection visits to home-based daycares were previously a challenge since they are originally private residential places, but the ministry officials can now carry out their visits to daycares under a legal framework and ensure their abidance by the regulations,” Mahmoud Jbour, director of the ministry’s Family Protection Department told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

Khreis said that the ministry’s 2018 by-law includes several provisions that facilitate the licensing process of the various types of daycares, including home-based ones in addition to eliminate the long bureaucratic measures. 

The new by-law also includes provisions on the rehabilitation of daycares so as to integrate children with special needs in accordance with article 27 of the law on the rights of persons with debilities, the spokesperson told The Jordan Times.

Eman Okour, director of the women economic empowerment department at the Labour Ministry said that employers who violate Article 72 of the Labour Law are given a grace period before they are issued an official violation. 

“The ministry carries out regular inspection visits to the workplaces and always issues recommendations in this regard,” Okour told The Jordan Times, stressing that the establishment of daycares offers female employees a friendly work environment that increases their productivity and, consequently, the company’s income.

She noted that the ministry takes the necessary legal measures in case of receiving complaints from female employees against institutions that violate the provisions of the Labour Law.