Private kindergartens compliance to standard operating procedures during movement control order period

Abstract

Pandemic COVID-19 and the enforcement of Movement Control Order (MCO) have created new norms in society. The re-opening of the private kindergarten during this MCO period was met with a different reaction from the entrepreneurs. The objective of this study is to analyse the level of compliance with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This study involved 50 private kindergartens in Selangor. The assessment is based on two perspectives: feedback from kindergarten management and the trainee teachers. The findings showed that compliance levels were high with the mean score of 4.260 (before operation) and 4.278 (during operation) given by the operators on a scale of 1 – 5, while trainee teachers gave a mean score of 4.212. Before its operation, kindergartens have prioritized three safety measures: ensuring parents were free from COVID-19 (mean 4.64), monitoring teachers’ health (mean 4.52), and tightening the rules for visitors (mean 4.38). During its operation, kindergartens have improved their safety measures especially in prohibiting symptomatic children to kindergarten (mean 4.54), providing adequate hand sanitizer (mean 4.44), enforcing the use of face masks (mean 4.44), making isolation towards symptomatic children (mean 4.40), carrying out comprehensive disinfection activities (mean 4.36), and ensuring parents to cooperate accordingly (mean 4.32). The observations of trainee teachers have also supported these claims. According to the teacher trainees, the lower scores concerned around ensuring children to wear a face mask at all times (mean 3.72), prohibiting children from sharing personal equipment (mean 3.89), prohibiting physical contact among children (mean 3.96); conducting learning group activities (mean 3.98), and tracking close contacts of symptomatic children (mean 4.02). The high level of compliance indicates the entrepreneur's determination in ensuring that private kindergartens can operate properly and safely. The results of this study have a significant impact on the role of the relevant authorities to provide training and financial assistance to private kindergartens. Such support is essential for them to offer quality services in the interests of child education and safety.