‘OK sa DepEd’ launched

The Department of Education, in partnership with various government agencies, launched “Oplan Kalusugan sa DepEd” (OK sa DepEd) campaign and “Healthy Learning Institutions” (HLI) initiative, on Tuesday, Oct. 11, in hopes of ensuring the well-being and health of students for the school year 2022-2023.

Officially launched in 2018, OK sa DepEd covers six of the department’s flagship programs, namely:

● School-based Feeding Program (SBFP)

● Medical, Dental, and

zzzzNursing Services, including the School Dental Health Care Program (SDHCP) Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools (WinS) Program Adolescent Reproductive Health

National Drug Education Program School Mental Health Program

DepEd, earlier this year, entered into a partnership with the Department of Health (DOH) and other government agencies, aimed at strengthening schools under the basic education sector as HLIs.

“This is the importance of having healthy learning institutions – so that our children will not be affected by Covid-19, and even without the pandemic, we ensure that the everyday lives of our students or learners who come to school will be healthy,” said DepEd undersecretary Epimaco Densing III.

DOH officer-in-charge Undersecretary Dr. Beverly Lorraine Ho, on the other hand, stressed that learning institutions play a vital role in championing the health of students. She said this is one of the reasons DOH has partnered with DepEd and other government agencies in this initiative.

“Hindi [lahat ay] makukuha sa pagbisita ng clinic o hospital. Eighty percent ng health natin ay combination ng ating educational attainment, sweldo, security at ilan ito sa mga dahilan kung bakit [nakita ng] DOH na kailangan mag-reach out sa mga eskwelahan (We will not achieve everything in a visit to a clinic or a hospital. Eighty percent of our health is a combination of our educational attainment, salary, security and these are some of the reasons the DOH saw the need of reaching out to schools),” said Ho.

The national kickoff of OK sa DepEd and HLI was held at Quirino High School in Quezon City on Tuesday.