A student health handbook to record the medical history of students from pre-primary to Class VI is being issued to all government schools. The book is supposed to help detect the illnesses at early stages and contribute towards healthy student. The Education Ministry has already distributed 36,000 copies in seven Dzongkhags.
The health handbook is divided into five sections like bio data, annual health screening and body mass index. It has provisions to record the medical history of a student so that when need arises appropriate measures can be taken by the health personnel like referring them to larger hospitals.
The Chief Programme Officer of Comprehensive School Health Division, Sherab Phuntsho said, since health is a critical issue and is directly related to quality of education, the book will be of immense help.
“It will help record and document health status. It will have records and documents considering the student’s diet as well as physical activities. And also it provides a relevant record for the decision making especially for the Health Ministry and Education Ministry,” he said.
The books will be distributed to all the 347 primary schools, 90 lower secondary schools and 56 middle secondary government schools within this month. Other 14 private schools will also be given the books but only in the second phase.
The move is fully funded by World Health Organisation and UNICEF.
