School health experts including representatives from the
World Bank, Imperial College London's
Partnership for Child Development (PCD),
Sightsavers and the Government of Cambodia recently joined together at a regional workshop to present on the role of schools in promoting effective
child health and learning for all.
During the workshop H.E. Nath Bunroeun, Secretary of State for Education, Government of Cambodia, said, "School health is a major contributing factor to prevent vulnerable groups of children dropping out of school, nutrition and health programmes greatly reduce drop-out rates."
The workshop, which ran from 4-6 February in Siem Reap, particularly focused on approaches to
school-based vision screening and
deworming as key elements of comprehensive School Health & Nutrition programmes.
H.E. Nath Bunroeun continued, "Recent work on vision and health screening in Cambodian schools has shown that working closely with communities and teachers achieved remarkable results, teachers can screen children effectively and cost-efficiently for refractive errors."
Representatives of the governments of Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal and Vietnam attended the workshop, titled 'Asia Regional Workshop on Inclusive School Health Programmes in Support of Learning for All', along with representatives of civil society organisations and United Nations agencies. During the three days school visits also took place so participants could learn about successful programmes in the local context.
