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Students’ health records will be tracked through school programme – Health official
Addressing the health issues of students in the public school arena has become a priority for the Ministry of Education, since, according to Coordinator of the School Health, Nutrition and HIV/AIDS Unit, Sharlene Johnson, a child cannot function academically if he or she is not healthy.
It was in recognition of this, she said, that the ministry was forced to step-up its efforts to introduce programmes specifically to monitor the health issues of students in the system.
“We realised that students cannot function well if they have certain health problems…Their cognitive ability is diminished if they are not healthy.
So we recognised in the sector the role that we need to play in the whole moulding of the child, not just academically, but by ensuring that there is a rounded approach.”
In this regard, Johnson related, the ministry, during the past three years, has been working on addressing various health issues, but last year decided to undertake a situational analysis of the sector to determine the way forward in the whole process.
She said that the analysis was conducted in collaboration with UNESCO, the World Bank and Partnership for Child Development, which revealed that although the ministry had stepped up its efforts, the whole effort was to some extent disjointed.
She noted that a recommendation was offered for the development and establishment of a School Health Nutrition and HIV/AIDS Unit. And, according to Johnson, the unit is intended to coordinate all health activities in which the Ministry of Education engages.
“Instead of health activities being disjointed, the unit is now able to ensure that programmes that are implemented in schools are better organised and tracked.”
And while the unit works in collaboration with organisations, such as the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), to detect visual impairment in students, Johnson disclosed, an audiology programme recently commenced and will address the hearing problems students may face.
The school health programme, she noted, is geared at tracking the health condition of students from the nursery right up to the secondary level, with a view to ensuring that teachers are aware of any special needs that they may have.
This, she said, will be facilitated by the introduction of a card which will be designed similar to the clinic cards. This card will highlight the defects and special requirements of the child.
A programme to train teachers to conduct both visual and audio screening for students has commenced.
She explained that the intent is not just to screen the students and leave them, but that the ministry is working closely with the Ministry of Health to access the services of ear, nose and throat clinics to ensure that all deficiencies are addressed.
In the area of visual screening, Johnson said, quite a few students have been referred for further treatment, and some have even been able to access spectacles, since it was discovered that they could not see from certain distances.
She noted, too, that although the ear screening programme is new, the programme will seek to provide hearing aid to help students.
She added that the programme will be addressing the dental health of students by promoting proper hygienic practices.
She noted that much focus will be given to water and sanitation, proper hand washing and toilet use practices, which if not inculcated could lead to diarrhoeal infections.
However, she explained that since the programme is only in its embryonic stage, the full effect has not yet been realised.
“The ultimate goal is to be able to provide each child with the health requirements that they need to ensure that they reach their full potential…”
According to Johnson, also as part of the programme, the ministry is planning to review the Health and Family Life curriculum which was designed by CARICOM to better deal with the health of the child.
She disclosed that CARICOM and Caribbean countries found that while students leave school with good grades, they still do not have the skills to take them through life.
Johnson added that the ministry, in collaboration with UNICEF, has since developed a curriculum in this regard.
“It is a life skills programme that is intended to equip the students with the necessary life skills that they need to take them through life. Some of them do not have communication and assertiveness skills, and they lack empathy…,” she informed.
The programme, Johnson said, has so far been introduced in all regions except Region One, where it is set to be taken shortly.
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