The Education, Culture, and Sports Committee and the Committee for the Rights of the Child held a joint discussion today (Monday) on the challenges of early childhood during emergencies. The discussion focused on the distress of private daycare centers and the demand to equalize their compensation scheme to that of subsidized “Symbol” daycare centers. Knesset members sharply criticized the Treasury representatives, claiming that the proposed scheme creates undue discrimination and severely harms parents and educational staff.
The Treasury representative, Rom Bar Av, explained that the aid scheme for subsidized daycare centers, presented yesterday by the Minister of Finance, is based on draft laws for business continuity and a furlough scheme, which are expected to be legislated soon.
According to the draft for business continuity, to be eligible for compensation, the daycare center must first refund parents their payments, thereby demonstrating a decline in revenue. The compensation granted will be determined by the extent of the revenue decline. Thus, refunds to parents for the month of March will be paid by April, with compensation for lost wages being 75% of salary expenses and up to 22% of other operational expenses (non-salary). Under the furlough scheme, employers will place employees on furlough with a series of relaxations, even retroactively, and they will receive payments equivalent to unemployment benefits. The money returned to the employer can then be passed on to parents. Bar Av emphasized that there are differences between “Symbol” and private daycare centers, including due to levels of regulation and profitability. “The scope of transferring money to private daycare centers is much larger, in the tens of billions, and we are required to provide a broad response to the entire economy,” Bar Av stated.
Knesset members opposed the proposed scheme: “Daycare centers are not like any other business.” MK Yaron Levi suggested allowing daycare centers payment deferrals, similar to income tax and VAT. Bar Av responded: “We cannot allow deferrals only for them and not for other entities.”
During the discussion, Knesset members raised several proposals to resolve the crisis. The first is a direct compensation mechanism for parents, through the National Insurance Institute based on receipts, which would provide business certainty for the facilities and prevent overcharging parents. The second is to equalize the conditions of private daycare centers with “Symbol” daycare centers: transferring direct budgets to private daycare centers to prevent their collapse and ensure the salaries of caregivers.
Chairperson of the Committee for the Rights of the Child, MK Keti Shitrit: “in the past two years, 600 facilities have closed and thousands more are in danger. Daycare centers are the engine of the economy, enabling parents to go to work. The scheme proposed by the Treasury is cumbersome and unprofessional. Bring a simpler procedure. I will not let this pass as it is. If necessary, we will go up to the Prime Minister to prevent the gap you have created.”
MK Sharen Haskel added angrily: “Young parents are not the ATM of the state. The state imposed exorbitant regulatory costs on private kindergartens, and now when compensation is needed, it shirks responsibility. The current scheme is unworkable.”
MK Yosef Tayeb emphasized that private kindergartens filled the vacuum left by the state: “When only 27% of children are in “Symbol” daycare centers, it is impossible to equalize salaries in a way that is not fair. Private daycare centers will collapse if the staff are forced to wait months for their salaries.”
Sima Aaron, a kindergarten teacher representing dozens of kindergartens, said tearfully: “We cannot pit ourselves against the parents; they are our heart. We cannot absorb any more. Why are “Symbol” daycare centers better than us? They have no place to absorb our children.”
The committees called on the ministry of Finance to examine the proposals raised, as well as the proposal by the legal advisor of the Education Committee, Adv. Nira Lemai Rachlevsky, to use the National Insurance Law as a framework for an exceptional arrangement for private daycare centers.