Friday, November 22, 2024

School health programme only does ‘paper work’

School health programme aimed at providing primary medical treatment and health education to school children is in disarray and barely operational, according to a
senior official of the directorate general of health services.
Since its inception in 1951, the coverage of school health programme has not expanded, beyond the 23 clinics attached with zilla schools of the old districts.
Health experts said that the government was not serious about the programme which barely reached any school children.
The programme was designed to provide a health service to school children and provide health education involving mainly preventive care and sanitation.
The programme was particularly supposed to provide care for eyes, ears, teeth and to detect malnutrition, they said.
Rashid-e-Mahbub, a former president of Bangladesh Medical Association, said school heath programme was also supposed help identify any congenital illness and detect
early signs of disabilities and children could be referred to the hospitals if necessary.
Currently, only 55 doctors are responsible for the 23 school health clinics that exist across 20 old districts and three upazilas in the country, said directorate
general of health services officials.
‘This can cover only 2 per cent of government primary schools and 6 per cent of government high schools,’ said the programme manager of Adolescent and School Health
Programme, Ahmed Hossain Khan.
According to the education ministry, a total of 37,672 government primary schools and 317 high schools are operating in the country with over 94,83,000 primary level
students and over 2,21,800 senior level students.
In addition, there are around 67,42,000 primary level students and around 71,77,000 high school level students enrolled in private schools.
‘Almost all these children are deprived of health care services from the programme, said Rashid-e-Mahbub.
The director general of directorate general of health services Khandaker M Shifayetullah also expressed his disappointment over the school health programme run by the
DGHS.
‘I am very unhappy over the programme. It does not provide any significant service to the children,’ he said, adding that it only did some paper works.
Ahmed Hossain Khan, chief of the school health programme, said they only run some training programmes for the upazilla health and family planning officers so that they
can train the teachers of the schools.
‘We did not provide any medical care to the students,’ he said.
Ahmed said the 23 school health clinics were directly supervised by the civil surgeons. ‘We do not supervise them.’
M Aman Ullah, medical officer of the programme, said that very few students came to seek treatment at the clinics. But now hospitals and doctors are available every
where students were no longer interested to come to the clinics to seek treatment.
The head mistress of both Comilla Zilla School and Nawab Faizunnessa Government Girls’ High School told New Age that they had no idea when the doctors came to visit
their schools.
‘I do not know when they come. I do not see them at my school,’ Rasheda Akhter, headmistress of Comilla Zilla School said. Two medical officers had however been
posted at the school heath clinic near Comilla Zilla School.
Emphasising the importance of school health clinics, Rashid-e-Mahbub said that in the developed countries children’s health was regularly checked up through similar
programmes. ‘Every child should be examined whether he or she had any kind of health problem before being admitted to school so that the problem could be treated at
the early stage.’
Khandaker M Shifayetullah hoped that the government would extend the number of clinics so that more schools could be covered. ‘We will also take initiatives to
strengthen the programme,’ he said

-With New Age input

Related News

Khaleda joins Armed Forces Day event after 12 years

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia on Thursday attended the Armed Forces Day reception programme at Senakunja after 12 years. Chief adviser to the interim government Muhammad Yunus exchanged greetings with Khaleda Zia at the reception programme at Dhaka Cantonment. Khaleda last attended the Armed Forces Day ... Read more

AMM Nasir Uddin made CEC

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Former secretary AMM Nasir Uddin has been appointed as the new chief election commissioner. President Muhammed Shahabuddin appointed him and other election commissioners on Thursday, a day after the EC search committee submitted the shortlist containing 10 names for those posts. Other members of the commission are former additional secretary Md ... Read more

JU student lost life after being hit by battery-run rickshaw on campus

News Desk : dhakamirror.com A first-year student of Jahangirnagar University died after she was hit by a battery-powered rickshaw on campus yesterday evening. Afsana Karim was a student of marketing and a resident of Begum Khaleda Zia Hall. Her parents live in Sherpur. In security camera footage, Afsana was seen walking near the arts building ... Read more

Education must foster creativity : Professor Yunus

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus said on Wednesday (20 November) that Bangladesh’s education system must foster creativity to create a generation of entrepreneurs. “We should reform the education system in a way that it creates a generation of entrepreneurs. We need education, which helps students become creative people. Our young people ... Read more

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims observed

News Desk : dhakamirror.com World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was observed in Bangladesh on Sunday as elsewhere in the world. To mark the day, different government and non-government organisations held different programmes on the day. The day is commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year. Dhaka North City Corporation on ... Read more

Chief Adviser opens waiting lounge at Dhaka airport

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Dr. Muhammad Yunus has opened a new waiting lounge for expatriate workers and their families at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. The lounge was inaugurated after his return from the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. Dr. Yunus mentioned that he had previously opened a lounge for expatriate workers before ... Read more

Saudi Arabia opens doors to nurses from Bangladesh in landmark move

There are only a few dozen clinicians among nearly 30 lakh Bangladeshi expatriates in Saudi Arabia Kamran Siddiqui Highlights Saudi Arabia has begun recruiting Bangladeshi nurses, marking a significant milestone in overseas employment, as the Gulf nation traditionally employs lower-wage, less-skilled workers from the country. The recruitment process, targeting an initial intake of 500 nurses, ... Read more

DU changes admission test for Ijtema, ‘Ka’ unit exam to February 15

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The General Admission Committee of Dhaka University (DU) has rescheduled the “Ka” unit (science) admission test to February 15 due to the Biswa Ijtema. Previously, the exam was scheduled for February 1. “We decided to defer the ‘Ka’ unit test date as it coincides with Biswa Ijtema,” said Professor Mamun Ahmed, ... Read more

Yunus opens dedicated lounge for migrant workers at Dhaka airport

News Desk : dhakamirror.com In a heartfelt acknowledgment of their invaluable contributions, the country is set to honour its expatriate workers with a new lounge at the Dhaka airport designed to make their journeys more comfortable. Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Monday inaugurated a special lounge for the country’s migrant workers at Hazrat Shahjalal ... Read more

Khaleda’s 10-year jail term stayed by SC

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Monday stayed a 2018 High Court ruling that had extended Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia’s prison sentence from five years to 10 years in the Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Orphanage Trust case. A three-member Appellate Division bench led by Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam ... Read more

JnU students end protests after demands met

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Jagannath University students on Tuesday withdrew their movement, for the construction of the university’s second campus, after the interim government accepted their demands. AKM Rakib, an organiser of the movement, told reporters after a meeting held at the education ministry on the day that they were withdrawing the movement. ‘The government ... Read more

Applications for school admission begin

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Admission applications for grades one to nine in both public and private schools have started this morning. Students can start applying online from 11am. The application process will continue until 5pm on November 30, reports The Business Standard. After the application period ends, students will be chosen through a digital lottery, ... Read more

Grandchildren of deceased government employees now eligible to receive pensions, gratuity

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Government employees’ pensions and retirement benefits have been modified by the government, allowing their grandchildren to receive them in the event that no other eligible nominee is available. In this regard, a notification was released by the finance ministry today, November 10. The amendment comes amid a legal complication in this ... Read more

Entry exam for MBBS on January 17 and BDS on February 28

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The entrance exam for MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) 2024-2025 academic year will be held on January 17, while the BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery ) is scheduled for February 28. The dates were finalised at a meeting today at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at ... Read more

BMD Winter outlook: Winter going to be colder this year

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Eight to ten mild to moderate cold waves could hit the country in the upcoming winter, a Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) official stated yesterday. Two to three of those waves could turn into severe cold waves, with temperatures likely to drop as low as 4 degree Celsius, in the northwestern, northeastern, ... Read more

Govt made the decision to revoke Cyber Security Act

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Bangladesh’s interim government advisory council, on Thursday, made a policy decision to repeal the controversial Cyber Security Act. This decision was made at a meeting held at the office of chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in Tejgaon, Dhaka. After the meeting, environment, forests and climate change adviser Syeda Rizwana Hassan confirmed ... Read more

Everyone must work together to save rivers: Rizwana

News Desk : dhakamirror.com “We must save rivers and stop pollution caused by mills and industries. However, the entire responsibility cannot be imposed on the government. Everyone must work together,” said Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan yesterday. “In a democracy, everyone has a stake. Preservation of the environment will only be successful when everybody participates,” ... Read more

Actress Shomi Kaiser arrested

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Actress Shomi Kaiser has been arrested from Uttara in the capital, said the police. Uttara West police station officer-in-charge Hafizur Rahman stated that she was arrested from a house in Sector 4 of Uttara at around 1:00 am on Wednesday. An on-duty officer at the Uttara (West) police station confirmed that ... Read more

Ijtema scheduled for two phases from January 31 to February 9: home adviser

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Bishwa Ijtema is set to take place in two phases from January 31 to February 9 next year, as announced today by Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury. The first phase will be held from January 31 to February 2, with the second phase from February 7 to ... Read more

Bangladesh sent 9.3 lakh workers abroad since Jan

BSS With sincere efforts by different stakeholders, especially the government, Bangladesh sent abroad 9.3 lakh workers with jobs from January to 2 November this year. “The trend of overseas employment is satisfactory so far and we are expecting to send more remittance senders with jobs this year,” Director of Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training ... Read more