In a bid to improve the quality of home childcare here, Qatar has announced plans to launch a nanny training academy by April 2013, QNA reports.

The Qatar Nanny Training Academy, an initiative backed by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, will offer a free 10-month training program for women on how to become proficient nannies for Qatari and Arab families.

Classes, which will be in line with local and Islamic values, will cover a range of topics, including hygiene, nutrition, entertaining children and first aid. The new QNTA will also tie up with international childcare groups to ensure that nannies are trained according to the highest standards, QNA adds.

In a job posting on Bayt.com, QNTA said that its training and education programs would take place in Arabic. 

But Amal Abdullatif Al-Mannai, a founding committee member, said during a press conference on Saturday that “the goal of the academy was to protect children from other cultures that diffuse into the society through Asian nannies in particular.”

Not in sync

Cultural differences between expat women who come to Qatar to work as maids and nannies and the Arab families they work for have long been a source of tension here.

Language barriers, different religions, varying perspectives on modesty and conflicting views on how to raise children are among the issues sponsors and their nannies face.

This year, local media reports stated that more employers have started installing cameras to monitor the daily actions of their nannies. The move was prompted by GCC-wide horror stories of nannies contaminating food with urine, torturing children and conducting black magic, as well as fears about theft and illicit relationships.

Meanwhile, health officials said an increasing number of domestic helpers have sought psychiatric treatment this year in part due to the culture shock they experience when arriving to work in Qatar.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Janelle