Authors:

Abstract

The information regarding the quality of care provided by childcare centres in Sri Lanka is insufficient. We aimed to assess the quality of care and parental satisfaction related to childcare centres in Kandy municipality, Sri Lanka.

The quality of 40 childcare centres was measured using the Revised Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-R), and in 20 of them, using Revised Infant and Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS-R). A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect details of caregivers (n=129) and centres. Parents (n=484) were interviewed to assess satisfaction using a 20-item scale. The standard scoring system was adopted for the quality measured by the ECERS-R, and t-test or one-way ANOVA was used for comparing mean scores between centre characteristics.

Quality of care as measured by ECERS-R was ‘inadequate’ in 15%, ‘minimal’ in 77.5%, and ‘good’ in 7.5% of the centres, whilst the respective percentages with ITERS-R were 5%, 80%, and 15%. The quality as measured by ECERS-R was significantly higher in centres with higher fees (F=7.60, p < 0.001), lower children per caregiver ratio (F=6.72, p<0.01), and when age-based small groups used (t= - 4.732, p < 0.001). An inverse relationship was disclosed between centre quality and years in service of the caregiver (F=8.305, p<0.001). The majority of parents were ‘very satisfied’ with most of the satisfaction items.

Quality of care in the majority of centres was ‘minimal’ and high-quality childcare was associated with increased fees. Quality of care may be improved by reducing the number of children per caregiver and grouping children into small groups by age.

Keywords: Child-care, Quality, Child-care centres, Day-care, Parents’ satisfaction, ECERS-R, ITERS-R