Parents have expressed anger over the planned reintroduction of a system that penalises those whose children fail to attend state-financed nurseries for more than a quarter of their booked sessions – even if they are sick.

The announcement was made on the Facebook page of the Free Childcare Scheme, prompting several parents to raise concern over the measure being reintroduced during a pandemic.

The government scheme provides free childcare services to working or studying parents, as a way to help families achieve a work-life balance.

Each child is entitled to miss 25 per cent of their booked childcare hours per month. If they miss more than that, including for certified medical absence, the parents will have to pay the difference to the childcare centre.

Most parents have complained that such young children usually miss out on more than 25 per cent of their booked hours as they are constantly getting sick. 

At the same time, measures implemented to help curb the pandemic see children sent home “as soon as they sneeze”.

And if they are asked to quarantine, children would miss two weeks of childcare sessions – equivalent to nearly 50 per cent of the month’s sessions.

'Knowingly send sick children to childcare'

But many parents warned that to avoid footing the bill, some will knowingly send their children to nursery when sick.

This would result in more sick children, one social media user said, adding that in a world were both parents worked, no one was going to keep their children out of childcare for no reason.

Those running the scheme are urging parents to review their booked hours monthly. But parents protested they could not forecast how and when their children would get sick.

“Please reconsider the 25% absence entitlement in genuine cases of illness covered by a sick certificate – 25% is nowhere close to enough, especially when children are sent home over the slightest cough or sneeze which take weeks to clear,” one parent said.

“Please understand that we cannot revise and book hours based on the unpredictable nature of illnesses. What is certainly predictable is that there is a lot of illness rebounding this year,” another one quipped.

One working mother said this could mean she will spend all her paycheck on childcare bills while another questioned the reasoning behind the 25 per cent capping “when we have zero control over how often our kids get sick”.

“It will only lead to a situation where we have to pay both for their absence from childcare and, in my case, for someone who will come to my home to watch them so that I can still work.

“I cannot afford that... I have triplets and they are constantly getting each other sick,” she said.