Nashik: Schools to be linked to health centres

Nashik: The Nashik Zilla Parishad has decided to link the schools in the rural areas with the local health centres to fulfil the criteria for starting physical classes for students of classes V to VII.

The state government has announced starting of physical classes for students of classes V to VII in the rural areas and classes VIII to XII in urban areas. In the rural areas, physical classes for students of VIII to XII have already started to function.

“The state government’s concern is that the health of the students attending the schools should be monitored. Hence, the school authorities has been asked to set up health centres. While this will not be possible, we will link the schools in the villages to the sub-primary health centres in the villages where the schools are located,” said a senior officer from the Nashik ZP.

The officer said the detailed meeting to decide on the ways and means to monitor the health of the students will be held on Friday as offline classes are set to restart from October 4.

The health monitoring is limited to any child feeling uneasy in the school. In such a case, the help of local Asha workers will also be taken. The standard operating procedure (SOP) for the schools will be announced once the decision on the same is taken, the officer said.

In the case of starting the schools in the urban areas, the health authorities said the health staff of the primary health centres can be attached to some of the schools but not all.

“We will ask the private schools to get the help of local doctors for their health centres as asked to be done by the state government,” said Dr Bapusaheb Nagargoje, the medical superintendent of Nashik Municipal Corporation.