Health, education and welfare officials yesterday approved a draft bill stipulating minimum requirements for the provision of health care and hygiene in public and private primary and secondary schools.
The Education and Culture Committee and the Hygiene, Environment and Social Welfare Committee of the Legislative Yuan at a joint meeting passed the draft School Hygiene Law.
The bill would require all primary and secondary schools to employ nursing professionals. It would require that schools with less than 40 homerooms employ up to two nurses and that those with 40 or more homerooms employ at least two nurses to augment student health care.
The bill also states that at schools that provide meals, dieticians should supervise meal programs to ensure that the food provided meets safety and nutritional standards that are laid out in the Dietician Law.
Schools, according to the bill, must meet hygienic standards set by the Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Administration.
"This law is needed to ensure that our children receive quality health care in school," said Hung Hsiu-chu (
While health care and hygiene issues have been the subject of government regulation for some time, an assistant to DPP Legislator Wong Chin-Chu (翁金珠) said yesterday "they [the regulations] lack the force of law because they are merely administrative guidelines."
"If this draft bill becomes law, schools will be obliged to implement the requisite health care measures," Hung added.
The bill will now be deliberated by a full session of the legislature.
Seeking to better inform students of what they can do, the bill requires that schools "strengthen their educational activities" in order to improve their understanding of physical health issues, how to use medication, eye care, sex education, first aid "and other related health issues."
In an explanatory document handed out to journalists and lawmakers, drafters of the bill pointed out that students in Taiwan rank No. 1 in the world for rates of near-sightedness, that approximately 90 percent of all elementary school students have dental problems and that about 15 to 20 percent of all elementary and junior high school students are overweight.
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