THE Ministry of Education has introduced a School Health, Nutrition and HIV/AIDS policy, which is to be implemented countrywide.

Minister of Education, Mr. Shaik Baksh made the announcement yesterday at the Ministry’s annual health fair.

He said the policy was developed in conjunction with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the World Bank and other stakeholders.

According to him, the aim is to promote and facilitate the implementation of health and nutrition programming and HIV prevention throughout the education sector.

He said its creation was informed by the Rapid Situation Analysis of the Education Sector’s response to HIV/AIDS in the context of school health, conducted in October and November of 2007.

The study was designed through consultation with members of the school community, educators, school boards, administrators, learners, support staff, Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs) and faith-based organisations, among others.

Issues addressed in the policy are the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders involved in school health and nutrition and HIV prevention; life skills based education; safe and sanitary school environments; school health and nutrition services and health, nutrition and HIV/AIDS related school policies.

EMBEDDED
Guiding the formation was the goal of ‘Education for All’ and Baksh said it must be embedded in the school system, as healthy children are better positioned for success.

The strategy underscored several facts, primary amongst them is that good nutrition and health are not only essential inputs but are also important outcomes of basic good quality education, he explained.

It applies not only to all students but to teachers, non-teaching staff, managers, employers and other providers of education and training in all public and private, formal and informal educational institutions and in every part of the education sector.

In that context, Baksh cited the need for strengthened partnerships to effect successful implementation, because the objective cannot be achieved by Education alone but by a multi-faceted approach.

Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Country Representative, Dr. Kathleen Israel echoed the same sentiments.

She lauded the Ministry initiative that will facilitate the introduction of a framework to address good health and nutrition, which factors are integral to good education.

Israel pledged the continued support of PAHO in the quest for school health.

She said there is no nobler cause than that of meeting the needs of young people to develop their potential and mould them into productive citizens.

Chief Planning Officer in the Education Ministry, Mrs. Evelyn Hamilton reiterated that the new policy is in recognition of the need to deal with the whole child.

She said it is another of many avenues to aid the development of schoolchildren.

The other ways include a massive HIV awareness campaign in 2005 and efforts currently underway to sustain it; a vision screening programme that provided care and treatment for approximately 8,000 persons; hearing screening and an entry level screening at nursery and primary levels which, besides being a mini-health check, was a way of advocating the importance of health.
“These efforts are a comprehensive response to the child,” Hamilton stated.