DepEd promises to keep schoolchildren healthy

Following the cancelation of the multi-million school feeding program, the Department of Education (DepEd) is now looking at other means to contribute to the health of public schoolchildren.  

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said the department is going “full throttle” to implement the essential health care program (EHCP), which is a simple, cost-effective school-based health program in partnership with the local governments, the private sector and other community stakeholders.

“Health concerns and poverty are the two major causes of low-school performance and drop out rate, prompting us to prioritize these two issues,” Lapus said in a statement.

Based on DepEd records, over 600,000 children in public elementary schools and daycare centers have benefited from the program.

Under the EHCP, each child gets a kit that has a toothbrush, soap, deworming tablets and access to toothpaste. The kit costs P25 per child per year and is given free, Lapus said.

“Part of the strategy to improve the school children’s performance is keeping them healthy especially in this time of Influenza A(H1N1) pandemic,” he said.

The EHCP also aims to reduce diarrhea incidence by 30 percent to 40 percent, respiratory infections by 20 percent to 30 percent, worm infections by 50 percent, dental caries by 40 percent to 50 percent and infection in the mouth by 50 percent.

DepEd hopes that with EHCP in place, school attendance would increase by 20 percent and as a result academic performance would improve.

“The quality of health of the pupils determines their academic performance,” Lapus said. 

DepEd, Department of Health and University of the Philippines studies showed that diarrhea and respiratory tract infections are the leading causes of death among school children. The studies also revealed that 67 percent of children are infected with intestinal worms and 97 percent have tooth decay, with toothache as the main reason for absenteeism in school. 

“Not many realize their huge impact on the physical and mental development of children, their school attendance, their school performance and ultimately their quality of life,” Lapus said. 

EHCP is taught in schools and daycare centers as venues for health promotion and behavior change. They are the most appropriate places to reach children in a structured and organized way. The EHCP project goes side by side with the noodle program, Lapus said.

Earlier, the DepEd cancelled the procurement of the 19.42 million packs of noodles that were to be distributed to 373,440 pre-school and Grade 1 pupils for 104 days in 13 food-poor provinces. 

Fortified instant noodles are provided daily to pre-school and grade I pupils supposedly for 104 feeding days for 2009.

The school feeding program has been one of the government’s most successful education and hunger mitigation initiatives. The feeding program, which started in 1996, had resulted in increased enrolment, improved school attendance and reduced drop-out rate, the official said.

“Let me add that the school feeding has decreased the percentage of under-nutrition to 16 percent in 2008 from 22 percent in 2007,” Lapus noted.

Grades 1 and 2 are the most critical years in basic education as these are where drop-outs are very pronounced, a study conducted by DepEd showed.–James Konstantin Galvez, Manila Times