{"id":40506,"date":"2015-02-02T13:22:57","date_gmt":"2015-02-02T07:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/?p=40506"},"modified":"2015-05-11T16:09:33","modified_gmt":"2015-05-11T10:39:33","slug":"medical-facilities-in-schools-how-much-do-we-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/india\/medical-facilities-in-schools-how-much-do-we-care","title":{"rendered":"Medical Facilities in Schools – How Much Do We Care?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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  1. \"Medical<\/a>A child with mild mental retardation is playing in her school with friends. \u00a0The see-saw that she is on is rickety and defective. It gives way, and the child has a nasty fall, injuring her face severely. \u00a0The school is unaware of how to handle the incident and calls the parents. The child is rushed to a nearby medical facility and is admitted for several days. The parents allege that medical care was not provided on time, and that the school authorities did not visit the hospital or provide support of any kind.<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. A 10-year old girl, with a previous history of congenital heart disease falls down in the school\u00a0during play time. \u00a0The school makes her lie\u00a0down and does not call for any medical help. The parents are called, and are told that she ‘collapsed while playing’. \u00a0The girl is rushed to a hospital where she is declared ‘brought dead’. \u00a0The school accuses the parents of not taking care of her heart condition. The parents say that she had had a recent medical check-up, which was normal. \u00a0They allege that the school mismanaged the whole incident and tried to fudge the post-mortem examination report.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The above real life incidents are a grim reminder of lack of medical facilities in our schools. This is a highly neglected area, one that school managements, teachers, parents and policy-makers often ignore. \u00a0It takes only one adverse incident such as\u00a0any of the two\u00a0described above for everybody to pass the buck and absolve\u00a0oneself\u00a0of all responsibility.<\/p>\n

    Had there been mechanisms in place for ensuring the health and safety of children attending school, the situation would not have been as bad as what we are faced with today. Particularly, in the wake of recent spurt in child abuse cases, the parents, schools and governments have a collective responsibility of making sure that the children are provided with a safe learning environment.<\/p>\n

    While accidents during play and medical problems in children are an inevitable part of early childhood, it is their management that is faulty. Often schools do not stock first-aid equipment or basic medication. In most cases, schools are also not attached to a medical establishment of any sort.<\/p>\n

    There is a tacit understanding that the parents are responsible for all medical issues, while the school is concerned only with imparting education. If and when there is an adverse event such as an accident or abuse of the child while on\u00a0school premises, there is an unfortunate tendency on the part of school management to hush things up.<\/p>\n

    Sorry, this cannot be acceptable. A school is a place where parents send their children with the hope that they would receive quality education\u00a0in a safe environment. <\/em>It is the school’s responsibility to ensure that such an environment is provided for the child. Don’t they collect extra remuneration, ostensibly for ‘building funds’ even at the time of admission? \u00a0Besides, parents would be more than willing to shell out an extra buck if it is needed for maintaining safety and security of their children.<\/p>\n

    In\u00a0such an\u00a0environment, it is heartening to note that there exists a programme run by an NGO that looks to improve the health of schoolchildren across the country. The School Health Annual Report Programme (SHARP) is a Delhi-based agency that arranges for medical check-up of schoolchildren at empanelled hospitals, with the help of corporates (as part of their\u00a0corporate social responsibility) and world organisations. This needs to be taken up nationwide, particularly\u00a0in the rural schools where children from\u00a0lower socio-economic backgrounds attend, and are more prone to ill-health.<\/p>\n

    What can be done to address this urgent and neglected issue? The following, though not a comprehensive list, may provide a start:<\/p>\n