BAGUIO CITY — The Department of Education (DepEd) in Cordillera has launched the “Oplan Kalusugan sa DepEd” (OK sa DepEd) program to ensure that all learners in public schools are provided with the basic health, dental care, protection from illegal drugs, and even reproductive health.
The program combines five major health and nutrition programs of the DepEd, Regional Information Officer Georaloy Palao-ay said on Thursday.
These five components are the National Drug Education Program (NDEP); the Adolescent Reproductive Health Education (ARH); Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools Program; medical, nursing, and dental services; and the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP).
All the programs are aimed at improving classroom attendance and performance of students in public school.
Palao-ay noted that most of these programs are already incorporated in the curriculum, but the “OK sa DepEd” program will further boost their implementation and will include other activities that will “translate the knowledge into action”.
Palao-ay said the priority for the feeding activity is given to learners classified as Severely Wasted (SW) and Wasted (W), and all Kindergarten pupils in select Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) areas.
PPAN areas have been identified as those which have high incidence of malnourished, over-nourished, and under-nourished learners.
“This program hopes to attain its objectives to improve classroom attendance of target beneficiaries to more than 85 percent per year,” Palao-ay said.
He said OK sa DepEd will help monitor the growth of the learners, especially in Cordillera, where there are cases of stunting.
As for the NDEP, he said learning modules on drugs are now incorporated in some school subjects, with focus on the ill effects of illegal drugs use.
“We had modules done before with the Dangerous Drugs Board to raise awareness,” he said.
For the ARH, Palao-ay said additional modules will be released. These, he said, would cater to the present generation and address the problem of teenage pregnancy. The RH education, he explained, emphasizes abstinence and the ill effects of engaging in activities reserved to married people.
Meanwhile, the WASH in School Program is to train students to make regular hand-washing a habit, especially before and after eating and coming from the restroom.
There will also be daily hand washing and tooth brushing activities, as stipulated in DepEd Order No. 10 of 2016, to promote hygiene, according to Palao-ay.
WASH has also been incorporated in DepEd’s infrastructure development program, where comfort rooms are constructed near classrooms, with a provision for safe and clean water.
“Aside from those, we have also nurses, dentists, and medical doctors strengthening their roles in ensuring the health and nutrition status of the learners,” Palao-ay said.
He added that the promotion of health and nutrition among target beneficiaries will be included in the K to 12 curriculum.
Under the school-based feeding program, schools are encouraged to adopt the “Gulayan sa Paaralan Program” (school vegetable garden) and backyard vegetable gardening to augment the feeding program; and to complement the government’s nutrition and poverty-reduction initiatives. **Pamela Mariz Geminiano/PNA
