Men in Early Childhood Care and Education in Seychelles |21 November 2017

Breaking the stereotype

Childminding has traditionally been viewed as “women’s work” perhaps because of their child bearing role. However today, increasing numbers of men take up jobs in the teaching and nursing profession, conventionally jobs dominated by women. To commemorate the International Men’s Day this year, the Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD) wishes to recognise the contribution of men in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in Seychelles. International Men’s Day highlights positive male role models, healthy life choices and their changing roles in families.

The newly introduced IECD (National Standards on Childminding) Regulations, 2016 makes provision for the participation of men as Home-Based Childminders or Childminding Assistants.  It is encouraging to note that IECD is beginning to see the registration of men in childminding service in Seychelles.  

Brian Cupidon, Terrence Dodin and Joseph Antoine have recently completed training to recognise the National Standards for Childminding Services, a training which targets childminders who are preparing for the registration of their service. All three men are currently working as Childminder Assistants alongside their wife or partner who operates a home-based childminding service. Their participation in the training was at first seen as a little bit awkward by some of the female participants but by the end of the training programme the three men were relaxed and were well accepted by their fellow female counterparts.  Through the training, they were able to share their experiences as male assistants and also their knowledge with others.

Aged 56 years, Mr Antoine, is a well-known taxi driver and assistant to his wife Lita Antoine who is a registered childminder at Au Cap. They have two children and one grandchild. His interest to work with children started when he found himself having to help care for his only grandchild. He was encouraged by his wife to assist with the daily running of the childminding service.

“My duties include preparing meals, helping with cleaning and also playing and supervising the children while my wife does the bathing and diapering,” he says.

“I believe that men need not be shy and that they should come forward to contribute in the development of children,” he adds.

“The training was very interesting and I have learnt a lot of things, many of which I was not aware of. This will help me to be able to better assist my wife with the work she has to do,” he comments.

Mr Cupidon’s decision to leave his multi-skilled job as a mason, carpenter and plumber was not an easy one, but it was his love for children and the encouragement of his wife Greena Cupidon which was the driving force. Following the decision by Mrs Cupidon to register her childminding service at Le Niole, she realised that she would need the help of an assistant as the number of children in her care was rapidly increasing. She did not look any further but sought the assistance of her husband. Mr Cupidon believes that childminding is a serious business and therefore he was willing to give his wife his full support. A typical day for him includes preparing the designated area for arrival of the children, welcome the early comers, help with feeding and educational indoor and outdoor activities.

“More men should be involved in childminding as children see men as father figures,” he says. He encourages other men to come forward to avail of training opportunities and to take such responsibilities seriously. He feels more empowered now that he has completed the training programme and is looking forward to applying more of what he has learnt.

The youngest among the three men is Terrence Dodin. Based in Mont Buxton, Mr Dodin is assistant childminder for three years now to his partner Jacqueline Laporte. Although not yet registered, Ms Laporte completed the pre-registration training programme in June 2017 and is currently preparing for the registration of her childminding service. With the need to employ an assistant in order to operate her service, she approached her partner for help. Mr Dodin whose own interests lies in Information Technology and electrical works, decided to focus more on helping his partner with the family business during the day. His main duties entail cooking and helping with play time and other educational activities.

“At first when she told me to attend the training I was a bit hesitant and wondered what more is there to learn since I’ve been doing this for 3 years now,” says Terrence.

“But after the first session I was eager to come back the next Saturday,” he adds.

Mr Dodin sees nothing wrong with men getting involved in caring for children.

“I would like to encourage other men to participate,” he says.

“There are male nurses these days and some of them are doing a much better job than the female nurses. So why not help their partner in caring for the children. After all, a child is the product of both a man and a woman and men can bring positive contributions in children’s life,” he asserts.

There are numerous factors leading to men’s low participation in early childhood care and education, particularly childminding. All too often, men are discouraged and they don’t consider child care as an occupation they are ‘qualified’ to do, given the female dominance and the stereotyping associated with it. As the experience of the three male childminder assistants has shown, male involvement in child care is a positive contribution to children’s development and it can be fun and really rewarding.

The daunting task though is to turn attitudes around with more education and showcasing the positive experiences to encourage more men into the childminding sector. The end goal should be to make it as natural to have men working in childminding as it is to have women. IECD wishes to thank Messrs Antoine, Cupidon and Dodin for coming forward to attend the training programme and also encourages other men to make their contributions toward the healthy and holistic development of children in Seychelles.

Contributed:

Regulatory Affairs Section, IECD