A classroom in Tân Lâm Hương 2 Kindergarten in the north-central province of Hà Tĩnh. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ TĨNH — Hà Tĩnh is facing challenges in providing school health services nearly five years after the province decided to move health workers from campuses to ward-based medical stations.

Before September 2020, each school in Hà Tĩnh Province had at least one medical staff member on campus.

However, following a decision to streamline public employee management, these health workers were moved to ward or district-based medical stations, leading to several drawbacks.

Tân Lâm Hương Commune, which was founded after a merger of Thạch Tân, Thạch Lâm and Thạch Hương communes, now counts five schools and seven campuses in its area.

One commune-level medical worker is assigned to oversee health care services in all of these schools, amounting to an enormous workload.

Lê Thị Chiến, vice principal of Tân Lâm Hương 2 Kindergarten, which has 396 students in total on its two campuses, also has to take on the tasks of an on-campus medical staffer, including collecting and managing students’ health insurance records and disease prevention and control.

When the children show signs of infectious and seasonal diseases such as flu or conjunctivitis (pink eye), most teachers can only detect the illness through their own observations or inform parents to let their child rest at home for monitoring.

If a student encounters a health emergency, teachers have to bring them to the nearest communal health station, which is 4km away from their school.

Nam Phúc Thăng Kindergarten in Cẩm Xuyên District also only has one accountant overseeing the school’s accounting, administrative processes and school health services.

The school also has to assign teachers to manage food inventory and conduct the necessary procedures to ensure food safety for the children.

According to statistics from the Hà Tĩnh Department of Health, the province reported more than 80,000 students at risk of malnutrition or obesity, along with dental, mental, respiratory or eye-related illnesses.

This figure raised the alarm for prompt and comprehensive actions to prevent school-age diseases and the mental well-being of the students.

Nguyễn Hồng Cường, deputy director of Hà Tĩnh education and training department, acknowledged that several shortcomings have arisen from the streamlining processes in addition to its achievements.

The limited staff at a local health station also means there are not enough health workers for each and every school campus in the locality.

Some schools have over 1,000 students but no on-site health staff, which presents a challenge in providing first aid or medication for students when needed.

According to Thái Sinh, deputy head of the department for social and cultural affairs of Hà Tĩnh People’s Council, moving school health workers to locally-based medical stations has increased their professional capacity in addition to the streamlining goals.

However, authorities need to look into issues that arise and propose radical and practical solutions to ensure school health services. — VNS