5.6.4 Childcare facilities for students
In 2025, Srinakharinwirot University (SWU) reinforced its commitment to gender equality, women's empowerment, and equal educational opportunities by providing accessible childcare facilities for students with infants and young children, particularly recent mothers who need to attend university courses after childbirth. This initiative serves as an institutional mechanism to reduce gender-related barriers, promote educational rights, and enable student parents to balance academic responsibilities with childcare needs. By fostering a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment, SWU empowers women to pursue their education without being disadvantaged by caregiving responsibilities, reflecting its commitment to SDG 5: Gender Equality and ensuring that parenthood does not limit academic opportunities or personal development.
Accessible Childcare Facilities for SWU Students
The Sirindhorn Child Development Center 7 operates under the HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Srinakharinwirot University, Ongkharak. The center provides childcare services for infants and young children aged from 3 months to 3 years. This childcare facility was in place and operating throughout 2025.
The acceptance of infants from three months of age is particularly relevant to recent mothers who need childcare support when returning to university following childbirth. The service enables SWU student parents to arrange appropriate childcare while they attend university courses, undertake academic activities, and continue their studies.
Importantly, the childcare facility is explicitly accessible to SWU students, rather than being restricted only to university employees. Public promotional information issued by the center identifies SWU students among those eligible to use the childcare service and receive the applicable university-community childcare fee benefit.
Childcare Environment and Services
The center provides an appropriate and secure environment for infants and young children. Children are supervised by teachers and childcare personnel, while the facilities include air-conditioned activity rooms, fully padded floor areas, and CCTV monitoring in every room.
These arrangements provide student parents with access to a dedicated childcare environment within the University system while they undertake their academic responsibilities.
The childcare provision also includes lunch for children during their time at the center, supporting their daily nutritional needs and reducing the need for student parents to arrange meals separately during university hours.
Financial Accessibility for SWU Students
The Sirindhorn Child Development Center 7 publicly promotes its childcare services and communicates the eligibility of SWU students to access the service.
In 2025, SWU students and staff were eligible for a THB 500 reduction in childcare fees. Students therefore have paid for access to the childcare facility at a discounted rate. The explicit identification of “SWU students” in the center's public promotional materials provides direct, publicly available evidence that students with young children are eligible to use the facility.
This discounted arrangement helps reduce the financial barrier associated with childcare and supports students who need childcare in order to continue attending university courses and other academic activities.
Evidence: public information on childcare fees and the eligibility of SWU students, Sirindhorn Child Development Center 7, 2025 (view source)
Free Early Childhood Learning and Development Activities
In addition to regular childcare, the center provides early childhood learning and developmental activities without additional activity fees. These activities support children's physical, emotional, social, cultural, and cognitive development.
Children therefore receive not only supervision and care but also opportunities to learn, interact with others, develop age-appropriate skills, and participate in creative and cultural experiences while their parents undertake university activities.
For example, on 10 January 2025, the center organized activities in connection with Thailand's National Children's Day 2025. Administrators of the HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Medical Center presented gifts to children and supported activities intended to encourage learning and development. (view source)
On 5 November 2025, the center organized an experiential learning activity for the annual Loy Krathong Festival. Children participated in age-appropriate activities involving Thai arts, culture, and traditions, including traditional dress, krathong-making, traditional games, and creative learning experiences. (view source)
These publicly documented activities provide additional public evidence that the childcare facility was operational and actively providing care and developmental opportunities for young children during 2025.
Supporting Recent Mothers to Attend University Courses
The Sirindhorn Child Development Center 7 directly contributes to SWU's support for students with childcare responsibilities, particularly recent mothers, allowing them to attend university courses.
Three features are particularly relevant to accessible childcare facilities for students which allow recent mothers to attend university courses:
Accessibility to SWU students: Public information explicitly identifies SWU students as eligible users of the childcare service.
Suitability for recent mothers: The center accepts infants from three months of age, providing childcare at an age when recent mothers may be returning to their studies.
Support for continued study: The availability of childcare enables student parents to leave their infants and young children in an appropriate childcare environment while they attend university courses and participate in academic activities.
The provision of lunch and free developmental activities further strengthens the childcare support available to student parents. The evidence for this criterion is provided above and is publicly available online.