Essay on the scope for work actions and methodologies in the School Health Programme

The number of young people in the world today is the largest ever: 1.7 billion people are between ages 10 and 24 years (UN, 1988), most of them living in Asia, Africa, or Latin America, and the majority of them attending schools. The reproductive health behaviour as a part of lifestyle of young people has both immediate and long-term consequences.

In some countries, the age at first sexual intercourse is decreasing. Most societies share a vision for their children: they will delay initiation of sexual activity until they are physically, socially and emotionally mature and in the meantime complete their education, reach adulthood, and enter the world of adult life, with family, children and livelihood occupation.

School Health Programme should include actions to provide improved health education and related services. Schools should have health goals that relate to local health needs and emergency priorities. Thus schools world-wide should consider the following goals and objectives :

1. Provide knowledge and understanding of the meaning of health and healthy life and actions that may promote them.

2. Provide access to education and opportunities to reach students, staff, parents and community members with intermission and services about family life, reproductive health, and population education.

3. Enhance gender equality by being responsive to the needs of young men and women in addressing reproductive health.

4. Involve young people in promoting healthy lifestyles be engaging them in planning exports, peer education and a variety of under learning experience addressing family life, reproductive health and population issues.

5. Take part in national and community initiatives to promote healthy sexual development and prevent HIV, STIs and other negative consequences of sexual activity.

6. Promote good hygiene and adequate sanitary facilities.

7. Have a code of conduct for staff and have a responsible adult designated to whom student can turn in confidentiality to report any suspicious or inappropriate behaviour or abuse, who can alert law enforcement officials and who can refer students to appropriate counselling and healthcare services, as required.

(I) Health promotion for school staff :

A health-promoting school aims to promote healthy lifestyles for all who study and work in the

school, including teachers, administrators, and other school staff, some of whom might be in their late adolescent years themselves and have sexual health needs or be affected by HIV/AIDS or other sexually transmitted illnesses. Strategies to promote family life, reproductive health, and population education should be an integral part of health education. For training teachers, school personnel, peer educators, and others to address family life, reproductive health, and propagation education should be part of the functions of a health-promoting school.

(ii) Nutrition and food programme:

Health-promoting schools can implement nutrition intervention in various ways to promote healthy development of students and staff. The students may be guided about avoiding junk food and enjoying nutritive items in their regular meals.

Micronutrient supplementation:

Distributing micronutrients to children who have nutritional deficiencies can contribute in the long term to reproductive health, especially in girls. For example, promotion of medical (e.g., daily ferrous sulphate tablets) and food-based (e.g., consumption of meat, legumes, or green leafy vegetables) solutions can treat iron deficiency (where it has been identified as a problem) and thus prepare young girls for less dangerous childbirth.

(iii) Mental health promotion counselling and social support:

Counsellors and other healthcare providers can help adolescents improve their self-esteem, make informed decisions, and feel more confident and in control of their own lives. Counsellors can also help young people understand the other gender’s expectations regarding sexuality outcomes (FAO/WHO/ILO/UNESCO, 1998). Schools can serve as a credible venue for counselling services related to family life, reproductive health and population issues. In hiring counsellors to work with young people, schools should engage only such professional and specialists who are empathetic, knowledgeable, trustworthy, clear about their own values regarding sexuality, interested in and friendly towards adolescents and are able to address broader issues of physical and emotional development of adolescents, including relationships, family conflict and drugs. They should ensure privacy and confidentiality.

(iv) Physical exercise, games and sports, recreation and extra­curricular activities:

Capacity Building

Physical exercise, recreation, indoor and outdoor games and sports, athletics, drill, gymnastics, etc., help individual acquire and maintain physical fitness and serve as a healthy means of self-expression and social development. School should provide time and facilities for engaging in them as part of regular time-table and activities. Physical education should be a regular activity in school in which all students should participate. Recreation activities can restore strength and relax spirits after school and work

(v) Pupil awareness and participation:

Children must be important participants, and not simply the beneficiaries in all aspects of school health programmes. Children will learn about heath better by participating in health policy development and implementation efforts to create a safer and more sanitary environment and health promotion aimed at their parents, other children, and community members and school health services. This is an effective way to help young people to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, values and skills needed to adopt healthy lifestyles and to support Health and Education for All.

(vi) Effective community partnerships:

Promoting a positive interaction between the school and the community is fundamental to the success and sustainability of any school improvement process. Community partnerships engender a sense of collaboration, commitment and communal ownership. Such partnerships also build public awareness and strengthen demand. Within the school health component of such improvement processes, parental support and cooperation allows education about health to be shared and reinforced at home. The involvement of the broader community (the private sector, community organisations and women’s groups) can enhance and reinforce school health promotion and resources. These partnerships, which should work together to make schools more child-friendly can

jointly identify health issues that need to be addressed through the school and then help design and manage activities to address such issues.

(vii) Effective partnerships between teachers and health workers and between the education and health sectors:

The success of school health programmes demand an effective partnership between Ministries of Education and Health, and between teachers and health workers. The health sector retains the responsibility for the health of children and the education sector is responsible for implementing and often funding the school based programmes. These sectors need to identify responsibilities and present a coordinated action to improve health and learning outcomes from children.

(viii) Provision of safe water and sanitation:

It is essential first step towards a healthy physical learning environment in school. The school environment may damage the health and nutritional status of school children, particularly, if it increases their exposure to hazards such as infectious diseases carried by the water supply. Hygiene education is meaningless without clean water and adequate sanitation facilities. It is a realistic goal in most countries to ensure that all schools have access to clean water and sanitation-clean toilets. By providing these facilities, schools can reinforce the health and hygiene messages and act as an example to both students and the wider community.

This is turn can lead to a demand for similar facilities from the community. Sound construction policies will ensure that facilities address issues such as gender access and privacy, separate facilities for girls, particularly adolescent girls. These are important contributing factors to reducing dropouts at menstruation and even before. School maintenance policies will help ensure the continuing safe use of these facilities.

(ix) Skills-based health education:

This approach to health, hygiene and nutrition education focuses upon the development of knowledge, attitudes, values, and life skills needed to make and act on the most appropriate and positive health-related decisions. Health in this context extends beyond physical health to include psycho-social and environmental health issues. Changes in social and behavioural factors have given greater prominence to health-related issues such as HIV/AIDS, early pregnancy, injuries, violence and tobacco use. Unhealthy social and behavioural factors not only influence life-styles, health and nutrition, but also hinder educational opportunities for a growing number of school-age children and adolescents. The development of attitudes related to gender equity and mutual respect

between girls and boys, and the development of specific skills; such as dealing with peer pressure, are central to effective skills based health education and positive psycho-social environment. When individuals have such skills they are more likely to adopt and sustain a healthy life-style during schooling and for the rest of their lives.

(x) Health-related school policies:

Health policies in schools, including skills-based health education and the provision of some health services, can help and promote the overall health, hygiene and nutrition of children. Good health policies should go beyond this is ensure a safe and secure physical environment and a positive psychosocial environment, and should address issues such as abuse of students, sexual harassment, school violence and bullying. By continuing to guarantee the further education of pregnant school girls and young mothers, school health policies will promote inclusion and equity in the school environment. Policies that help to prevent and reduce harassment by other students and even by teachers also help to fight against reasons that girls withdraw or are withdrawn from schools. Policies regarding the health-related practices of teachers and students can reinforce health education. Teachers can act as positive role models for their students, for example, by regular exercise, participation in games and sports and not smoking in school. The process of developing and acting upon policies draws attention to these issues.

(xi) School-based health and nutrition services:

Schools can effectively deliver some health and nutritional services provided that the services are simple, safe and familiar, and address problems that are prevalent and recognised as important within the community. If these criteria are met than the community sees the teacher and school more positively and teachers perceive themselves as playing important roles.

For example, micronutrient deficiencies and worm infections may be effectively dealt with by frequent (six-month or annual) oral treatment. Changing the timing of meals, or providing snacks to address short-term hunger school can contribute to school performance.