BY P. Waravita The first-ever National Guidelines and Minimum Standards for Child Development Centres (CDCs) in Sri Lanka, commonly referred to as children’s homes, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers this week, which includes guidelines for the children in such centres to make anonymous complaints about the centre. Speaking to The Morning, National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) Chairman Udayakumara Amarasinghe said that this is the first-ever national policy guidelines and common minimum standards formulated by governing authorities for CDCs in Sri Lanka, which aim to ensure that developmental needs of children are fulfilled, and that they are consistent with child development goals. CDCs are defined as all organisations, both Government and privately owned, where children are looked after by persons other than their relatives. “The guidelines focus on six areas – establishing and registering the CDC, the staff of the CDC, the institutionalisation and social integration of the children, the standards for the physical environment and security, the health and welfare of the children, and complaint handling, check-ups and the monitoring of the CDCs,” said Amarasinghe. The guidelines provide children in the centres with the opportunity to make anonymous complaints, suggestions or comments about the staff of the centre or about any other children. The guidelines state that a licence must be obtained by all CDCs, which needs to be renewed every three years. Furthermore, the guidelines state that managers of CDCs should have passed at least the National Vocational Qualification Level Six (NVQ Level six) in Child Development, while Assistant Centre Managers should have passed the NVQ Level five in Child Development. Child caregivers should have passed at least the NVQ Level four in Child Development, while volunteers should have passed at least six subjects, including Mathematics and Language, for their General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (O/L) examination. The guidelines state that before the institutionalisation of a child is considered, all possible alternatives should be considered and should only be done by a court order or with the approval of the Commissioner of Probation. “These guidelines were first proposed in 2013, but their formulation was halted and only restarted in 2016. The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) received the responsibility, and the guidelines were formulated after extensive consultations with probation officers of each area, and the National Commissioner of Probation. non-governmental organisations, the staff of CDCs and children in the CDCs, and education and healthcare workers also gave their inputs,” said Amarasinghe. Announcing Cabinet approval at the weekly Cabinet press briefing on Tuesday (16), Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Bandula Gunawardana said that this is a huge step in child protection in Sri Lanka. “I believe that this provides regulations and minimum standards for women and children who face disadvantages due to social and economic circumstances,” said Gunawardana.