APPENDIX I- PROPOSALS FOR ESTABLISHING MINIMUM HEALTH SERVICE IN SCHOOLS.
The question of School Medical Service was considered by the Central Advisory Board of Education at their 7th meeting held in January, 1942 on the basis of a report made by the Joint Committee appointed by the Central Advisory Board of Health and the Central Advisory Board of Education. The Committee made detailed recommendations on the question of' Medical Inspection, Treatment and follow-up, Nutrition, Personal and Environmental Hygiene in Schools, Physical Education and Administrative set up. The recommendations of the Joint Committee were further considered and approved by the Central Advisory Board of Education in their report on Postwar Educational Development in India (Pages 63--73).
It was, however, apprehended that little progress had been made in this direction since the report on the Post-war Educational Development in India was published, the Ministry collected information about what was being done in the States. A summary of the information received is placed in the annexure to this Memorandum. It will be seen that the Organisation of health care and health education in India still leaves much to be desired.
The main difficulties in the field are :-
(a) Lack of finances.
(b) Lack of trained personnel
More finances can be made available for health schemes in schools and colleges only as a result of the betterment of the general economic position of the country and hence immediate efforts must be concentrated on the maximum utilization of the existing resources. The following suggestions are offered here for this purpose :-
(1) Medical Inspection, Treatment and Follow-up.- Recommendations 9, 13, 14 and 16 of the Joint Committee mentioned above are relevant in this connection (see annexure). There is one other possible resource which might be used with advantage-namely the medical students in medical schools and colleges. Much of the work in the field can be taken up by them both in the form of social work and. a part of their normal practical training. Again, refresher courses for teachers to enable them to take up some of the routine work will help in building up eventually a machinery for medical inspection and follow-up.
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(2) Nutrition.-This is the most difficult problem to tackle without adequate finances. Sporadic attempts at providing milk for school children e.g., through the help made available by the UNICEF etc. do not really solve the problem. It might perhaps be possible for some States to start small projects under which schools, parents and State Governments may co-operate to provide nutrition to undernourished groups in "primary and secondary schools.
(3) Personal and Environmental Hygiene.-In this field recommendations 26, 28, 30 and 31 of the Joint Committee are relevent. Recommendations 21 and 22 can also be implemented without any financial burden.
(4) Health Education and Physical Education.-The health education of adults will have a wholesome effect on children and hence all adult education centres should include health education as an integral part of their syllabuses so that the knowledge may filter down to the children.
A better organized students movement can also take up health programmes. Recommendations of the Planning Commission pertaining to Playground Movement and Youth hostels can help towards better physical and health education of children. However, these will be beneficial to children only in the secondary school age groups and they depend upon the development of the youth movement in the country.
It is suggested that to begin with a modest programme of Pilot Projects which will make a better use of community resources including medical students, teachers, social workers, existing clinics, youth clubs and youth hostels may be taken up in the States immediately.
The Board may express their opinion about (a) desirability of introducing small Projects as suggested above and (b) other steps to be taken in regard to the improvement of School Medical Service.
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