The Harish municipality is rolling out a new city program for private family daycares (mishpachtonim) — home-based frameworks caring for up to six children — aimed at building a professional, supportive envelope around the women who run them.
The municipality said the program stems from a view of daycare operators as meaningful partners in the city's early-childhood education system. It is open to family daycares in the general community as well as the Torah-observant and Haredi sectors.
Participants will receive personal mentoring from a pedagogical instructor, professional guidance in areas of early-childhood practice, lectures, workshops and training sessions, peer meetings with fellow operators, enrichment and appreciation days, and a set of practical tools and working materials for day-to-day use.
The program is fully funded by the Harish municipality and participation is free of charge.
Deputy Mayor Revital Gonen, who holds the education portfolio, said private family daycares are "a significant part of the early-childhood educational response in the city," and that the municipality sees investment in the women who operate them as an investment in the city's youngest children.
The move is notable in a city with one of the youngest demographic profiles in Israel, where demand for infant care consistently outpaces the supply of municipal and licensed frameworks, leaving private home daycares to fill much of the gap.
Source: חדשות חריש 1️⃣ WhatsApp news group
