Speaking at the opening of Malaysia Airports’ Nursery and Kindergarten Centre here, Rohani said more women would seek employment if child care facilities were provided.

“My KPI (Key Performance Index) is to have 59 per cent of women in the country to enter employment by 2020 and I believe more women will go to work once they have these facilities,” she said.

She said of the 4,113 registered nurseries in the country, only about 170 were provided by companies.

She added that child care facilities were beneficial as they gave parents more time and a sense of peace knowing that their children were being taken care of. This will also decrease the need to hire foreigners to take care of children at home.

On abuse cases in kindergartens and nurseries, Rohani said most of the cases happened at unregistered child care centres.

“Normally, registered nurseries follow SOPs (standard operating procedure) and we have a team of inspectors who come in at random to ensure that these SOPs are followed.

“Our officers are always monitoring and we also send these officers whenever we receive complaints.”

She added that parents should also play their role in ensuring their children were given the best care.

“Parents must come and visit once in a while to make sure their children are being taken good care of. This will also give parents peace of mind. You (parents) need to do your part as well.”