Since July 1, 2013, all daycare centers (children aged 0-4 years) must comply with the four-eye principle. Why was the four-eye principle chosen? What exactly does this principle mean? What does the four-eye principle mean in practice, what important role does the parent committee play in this and what does the inspectorate pay attention to?
The report of the Gunning Committee
In April 2011, the Gunning Commission published the report Independent Commission Investigation of the Amsterdam Vice Case. This report was about the investigation that the committee had conducted into the Amsterdam sexual offense case. The Gunning Commission came up with a number of recommendations to prevent abuse in childcare. One of these recommendations is the so-called four-eye principle.
The four-eye principle
The four-eye principle means that childcare employees are no longer allowed to stand alone in the group without another employee being able to watch or listen. The entrepreneur is obliged to implement the four-eyes principle and to inform the parents about how this principle is implemented. The parent committee has the right to advice on how the daycare center implements the four-eyes principle.
The four-eye principle in practice
In practice, a pedagogical employee may still be alone in the group (within the framework of the Quality of Childcare and Playgroups Regulations 2012), as long as another adult has the opportunity to watch or listen at any time.
Some possibilities :
- office staff who regularly drop by unexpectedly to see if everything is going well
- deploying group helpers, interns and/or volunteers
- open connection between groups so you can see and hear each other
- the use of a baby monitor (with video)
- lots of glass and mirrors
- open approach culture
- (more) windows in the changing rooms and bedrooms
- 9-hour working day
- training
- the use of cameras
- vistas
- merging groups at the beginning and end of the day
- Parents who drop off their children in the morning and pick them up at the end of the day can also function as an extra pair of eyes
Inspection four-eye principle
When a daycare center is inspected, it is checked whether it meets the quality requirements as set out in the Childcare Act and the associated quality policy rules. This is done by the municipal health service (GGD) on behalf of the municipality. Since July 1, 2013, the GGD also checks whether the entrepreneur asks the parent committee for advice on the implementation of the four-eye principle and whether he informs the parents about this. From that date onwards, the parent committee must also be informed annually how the organization guarantees safety via the four-eyes principle. The GGD does not assess how the entrepreneur implements the four-eyes principle. This is up to the entrepreneur himself in close consultation with the parent committee. Whether the entrepreneur has complied with the four-eye principle since July 1, 2013 is therefore mainly dependent on the agreements made about this with the parent committee. The inspection of the four-eye principle is tailor-made. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment has opted for the open formulation of the four-eyes principle, so that the entrepreneur (together with the parent committee) can look for solutions that suit the specific childcare location.
Four-eye principle survey
At the end of 2013, Abvakabo FNV conducted a survey with RTL Nieuws among more than 1,300 pedagogical employees. This showed that supervision by a second adult is done by an employee from a different group in 77% of childcare organizations. This does not always appear to be easy to combine with one’s own work. In addition, it is sometimes difficult to listen to the baby monitor due to noise or difficult to watch due to the many drawings on the glass wall. The Childcare sector organization has criticized the question in the survey. This has influenced the results and therefore does not provide a realistic picture. According to the Childcare Trade Organization, a cultural change that allows colleagues to dare to address each other’s behavior is the most important thing. Moreover, there is no need to regularly listen in or watch, what matters is that someone knows that this can happen at any time.
read more
- Childcare; Horizontal and vertical groups
- Pedagogical trends in childcare
- NCKO Quality monitor for childcare
- Attachment in a child attending daycare