Preventing the cold to protect students’ health

In order to protect the health of students this winter, schools have proactively implemented practical measures.

According to the report of the Department of Education and Training (DOET), in the school year 2022-2023, the province has 670 schools, including 232 preschools, 250 schools with primary classes. Due to the divided terrain of a mountainous province, there are 390 preschools; 260 primary schools; 58 primary and secondary schools with about 30,000 children and students studying in remote areas of the province. In these faraway schools, from the beginning of winter, they have actively implemented measures to prevent the cold for students, in order to protect their health, safety and encourage them to go keep going to school despite cold weather.

Solid classrooms with glass windows to avoid drafts and allow light at the Ethnic Minority Semi-boarding Secondary School in Mau Son Commune, Loc Binh District

In the early days of December 2022 when the weather turned cold, we had the opportunity to go to Minh Phat Kindergarten, Minh Hiep commune, Loc Binh district. According to what we saw, the classrooms are closed to prevent drafts, the floor is covered by mat and there is enough light for students to study and play. Talking to us, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet, Principal of the school said: “We have 1 main school and 2 branches in remote areas with a total of 122 students. Currently, the classrooms at the school sites have been built solidly, warm enough in the winter and there are always enough blankets and hot water for students to use. Besides, to protect the health of students in the winter, the school also hardly organizes outdoor activities when the temperature gets low, asks teachers to regularly remind parents to take care of their children and to keep them warm at home and when picking up and sending them to school.”

Not only in Minh Phat Kindergarten, in the past time, in schools, especially kindergartens, primary schools and boarding schools in the whole province, they have paid attention to preventing cold for students by repairing degraded facilities, adding warm blankets; regularly reminding students to dress warmly, limiting outdoor activities; feeding them with more food according to the nutritional regimen in accordance with regulation; actively equipping with medicine for first aid when students have colds, fevers, coughs; instructing students on how to prevent and cure diseases; coordinating with medical staff to take care of students’ health…

Students of Minh Phat Kindergarten, Loc Binh district are given warm clothes

Additionally, many schools actively call for support from organizations, individuals and benefactors for more warm clothes and living supplies for students. For example, in November 2022, the primary school of Dao Vien commune, Trang Dinh district received warm clothes from the volunteer group of Vietnam Youth Academy; at the beginning of December 2022, the Ethnic Minority Semi-Boarding School, Primary and Secondary School in Mau Son Commune, Cao Loc District received gifts and mattress for the students from the delegation of officials and soldiers of Battalion 2, Northeast Mobile Police Regiment… and gift from many other volunteer groups. These resources have timely supported schools in preventing cold, providing better conditions to keep children and students warm in winter.

Ms. Phan My Hanh, Deputy Director of the DOET said: “In order to cope with the possible severe cold and help schools proactively prevent the cold, from the beginning of this winter, the DOET has been directing and guiding units and schools to deal with the cold in order to maintain the attendance students to school; urgeing the education and training division of districts and Lang Son city to review, inspect and advise the People’s Committees of districts and city to promptly repair damaged or degraded classrooms, dining rooms, and boarding rooms. At the same time, we request schools to follow the actual weather situation in the area and proactively report to local authorities and the DOET to adjust the start and finish time of the lesson or cancel the lesson according to regulation of Ministry of Education and Training and the actual situation of the area… With the measures given by the provincial education and training sector, over the past time, teaching and learning of schools has been maintained as usual with the student’s health protected.

Officers and soldiers of Battalion 2, Northeast Mobile Police Regiment present blankets to students of the Ethnic Semi-boarding High School Primary – Secondary School Mau Son commune, Loc Binh district

According to the information of the authorities, it is forecasted that in this winter, Lang Son will continue to face strong and severe cold waves. Therefore, units and schools, especially those in the remote areas of the province, should continue to actively implement practical and specific solutions to prevent cold.

Mr. Ly Kim Soi, Deputy Director of Department of Health

“Winter has obvious weather patterns such as cold, fluctuating temperature within one day, high air humidity. This is a favorable condition for viruses and bacteria to grow and cause diseases, especially in students. The most common disease in winter is respiratory infection (respiratory tract infection) leading to many consequences including upper respiratory tract infection (inflammation of the nose, sinuses, pharynx, larynx) and lower respiratory tract(inflammation of bronchitis, trachea, bronchioles, alveoli). In addition, diseases such as hand, foot and mouth disease, diarrhea, dengue fever, chickenpox, Japanese encephalitis… are also likely to increase in winter.

According to preliminary statistics of the Department of Health, in October 2022 alone, the number of infectious diseases in the area increased slightly compared to October 2021. Specifically: 7 cases of hand, foot and mouth, up 6 cases; 685 cases of influenza, up 259 cases; 17 cases of chickenpox, up 11 cases; 263 cases of diarrhea, up 81 cases, in which, many cases of the above diseases were recorded in students. In winter, the risk of these diseases may increase, especially those related to the respiratory tract, influenza, etc., affecting student’s health.

In order to proactively prevent and control diseases in winter for children in general and students in particular, the Department of Health regularly cooperates with the Department of Education and Training in informing and improving knowledge for school medical staff in preventing possible infectious diseases and protecting good health and safety for students when they come to school. Along with that, the Department of Health has directed its affiliated units to continue strengthening the implementation of epidemiological surveillance and investigation measures in order to early detect and thoroughly handle outbreaks in the community, especially in schools. At the same time, the unit also requires treatment facilities to prepare adequate drugs, supplies and medical equipment, ensuring the highest safety for the life and health of people, including students.