By Itzhak Rabihiya
Mass demonstrations follow the arrest and indictment of Carmel Mauda, who is facing 18 counts of abusing 11 toddlers at her daycare in Rosh Ha'ayin.
Thousands of demonstrators took part in mass demonstrations across the country on Sunday night over the lack of regulation at daycares for infants between the ages of zero and three. This comes following cases of child abuse by Rosh Ha’ayin pre-school teacher Carmel Mauda, who allegedly forced children to eat their own vomit, tied them up against chairs, and hit them, among other allegations.
The 25-year-old’s home, which housed the daycare center, was reportedly set alight on Sunday morning. One person was arrested in connection with the alleged arson. Mauda was arrested last month and was charged on Sunday morning with child abuse. She is facing no less than 18 counts of abusing 11 toddlers who attended her daycare.
Protests on Sunday night took place in several main centers, including opposite the government complex in Tel Aviv, as well as in Haifa, Beersheba and opposite the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem – the Jerusalem post reported today (8.7.2019).
Anat Dayagi, founder of Parents for Infant Care – the group organizing the demonstrations – explained that there are no laws or regulations in Israel for kindergartens or day care centers for ages zero to three years old. “So anyone can open up a kindergarten or a day care center and do as they like,” she told The Jerusalem Post. “They can have 30 kids and only one caregiver, there’s no sanitation regulations or safety regulations like stops on the doors or other such things, so this is why the protests are happening in Israel.” She said Mauda’s case was very extreme, but that this is happening on a day-to-day basis. “We keep seeing it again and again,” she added.
“We are protesting because we, as parents, are helpless,” she said. “I use my case as an example because as a parent, I did everything that I could so this wouldn’t happen to me, I asked all the right questions… I did everything right. She said the parents are calling on the government to set up standard supervision laws. “Standard supervision laws are very important stepping stones to regulations, because Israel is lacking the standard that needs to be set in secondary legislation,” she explained.
According to Parents for Infant Care, only 25% of the frameworks in which infants and toddlers are cared for are subject to supervision, and mandatory standards and background checks are not done on teachers and assistants. She emphasized that “90% of brain development occurs during early childhood, and it’s also when most core personality traits and social skills are set… these children are growing up traumatized.”
Under the report’s Right to Education inquiry, it asked for answers regarding the “disturbing situation” in Israel’s private kindergartens, “where conditions and services are reportedly substandard, and on the legislative or policy framework put in place to regulate them.”
In addition, the annual expenditure per pupil at the pre-primary level in Israel is ranked at 29 out of 31 countries, meaning that it is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries, according to data from 2015, the most recent available on the matter.
