Therefore, epidemic prevention in schools must be identified as part of ensuring school safety, organized regularly, with procedures, with responsible people and in coordination with medical facilities in the area.
To do this well, each school must know what to do when a student is suspected of having the disease. Who in the school will receive information, who will monitor cases with similar symptoms, when to contact the health station and how to notify parents must be clearly regulated.
Information between family, school and the health sector also needs to be connected smoothly. A child dropping out of school due to illness may just be an isolated phenomenon, not worth noting. But if many children in the same class simultaneously have symptoms, it may be a dangerous warning signal, which needs to be assessed and handled immediately.
Accordingly, schools must understand the reasons why students are absent from school; parents must proactively provide information; medical facilities must guide appropriate handling measures. Children's health data needs to be protected, but the epidemic situation related to the school community must be promptly informed, avoiding both extremes of concealment or causing unnecessary panic.
There is a reality that for parents who are workers in industrial parks, freelancers and have sick children, it is not easy for them to quit their jobs or find someone to take care of their children. Therefore, along with requiring families to let children drop out of school until they recover, schools and employers need to share and create conditions for parents to take care of their children.
Schools need to have plans to support students to supplement knowledge for them after the treatment break, without putting pressure on diligence or achievements. Businesses and labor-using agencies also need to create reasonable conditions for parents to take care of sick children.
Another issue that needs to be concerned about is school health capacity. School health workers cannot only perform first aid or manage records, but need to be trained to identify risks, summarize information, guide teachers and connect with medical facilities. Schools that do not have dedicated personnel must establish clear support points, instead of letting teachers fend for themselves when a case appears.
Epidemic prevention for children is not only the responsibility of the family or the education sector, but also requires the companionship of the entire community. Disease prevention and control is only effective when cases are detected early, treated quickly and the number of infected children is limited.
When families do not hide the disease, schools are not only not a place to spread the epidemic, but also the best defense line, helping to protect students' health right from the early days of the new school year.
