By Merlina Hernando-Malipot
Starting school year (SY) 2018-2019, a new health flagship program of the Department of Education (DepEd) will be fully implemented to recognize the vital role of all its health personnel in the delivery of quality, accessible, relevant, and liberating basic education for all.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones recently led the launch of “Oplan Kalusugan (OK) sa DepEd” Program. It is set to be fully implemented in July, school year (SY) 2018-2019 ,in close collaboration with the Department of Health (DOH), LGUs, and various stakeholders at the local and national levels.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
Briones presented this new initiative, together with Undersecretary for Administration Alain del Pascua and other DepEd officials during the 2017 National Conference of DepEd Health Workers in Pampanga, which was attended by around 1,100 DepEd health personnel nationwide.
The conference was spearheaded by the DepEd-Bureau of Learner Support Services (BLSS), through its School Health Division (SHD).
The “OK sa DepEd” Program, Briones said, is a “converging effort where health plans, policies, programs, and activities are implemented to ensure that all school children are provided with basic primary health and dental care to allow them to attain their full educational potential.”
Briones said that the program will “also ensure that all DepEd school health personnel and school children practice healthier behavior that they can do on their own, and get linked up with health providers and local government units (LGUs) for child and adolescent health services.”
Some of the major school health programs of the Department include the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP); Drug Education Campaign; Adolescent Reproductive Health (ARH) Education Program; Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Program; and medical, dental, and nursing services.
Other school health advocacy and support programs of DepEd are the Gulayan sa Paaralan; Healthy School Environment; School-Based Immunization Program; Helminth Control; and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, among others.
Briones underscored the significant role of DepEd health personnel in bringing to completion the various school health programs of the Department.
“We want our learners to grow and be educated up to their full potential, and this can be achieved through the active contribution of all of you in keeping our learners healthy, as well as our teaching and other non-teaching personnel, thus increasing the level of school participation, attendance, and access to education of Filipino learners,” Briones ended.