Director of family health services at the ministry, Lovely Daisy, on Thursday informed that based on preliminary examinations of 355 students at three Sekolah Rakyat, around 185 students or 52.11 percent require further examinations.
“Further examinations at community health centers or other healthcare facilities require the participants to be registered with BPJS Kesehatan (national health insurer). Special care will be provided at Sekolah Rakyat,” Daisy said during a discussion in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The discussion was organized by the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs.
During student health checks at the three Sekolah Rakyat, the ministry identified health problems ranging from visual impairment, dental caries, prediabetes, hypertension, and the risk of mental illness, she informed.
According to Daisy, the most common problems affecting students at the three schools were dental caries (42.8 percent), followed by visual impairment (21.9 percent), malnutrition (13.8 percent), prehypertension (11.5 percent), anemia (10 percent), hypertension (9.8 percent), prediabetes (5.6 percent), and mental health risks (1.9 percent).
Therefore, she conveyed the government’s commitment to ensuring the health of Sekolah Rakyat students through advanced follow-up examinations.
The health checks at public elementary, junior high, and high schools also revealed health problems linked to poor nutrition, smoking, poor fitness, blood pressure, tuberculosis (TB), ears, eyes, teeth, hepatitis (B and C), and reproductive health.
The Sekolah Rakyat program was initiated by President Prabowo Subianto to fulfill the educational needs of children from poor and extremely poor families, which are grouped under Deciles 1 and 2 in the National Socioeconomic Single Data (DTSEN) system.
The program is designed to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty, expand access to education, guarantee quality education for children from poor and extremely poor families, and ensure inclusive education for all children.
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Translator: Tri Meilani A, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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