School Hygiene: A Healthy Environment for Learning

For many parents or caregivers of school-aged children, at the start of a new school year, the priority is to meet material needs, such as uniforms, backpacks, shoes, and school supplies. In addition to the nutritional reinforcement provided by homes to supplement the daily diet.

However, they often overlook such a basic principle as school hygien. Which ultimately is responsible for ensuring the health of our children in the place where they spend most of their time each week.

And this is not to downplay these priorities, which undoubtedly play an important role in the daily back and forth between home and school for Cuban families. However, not everyone gives school hygiene the importance it deserves. In the broadest sense of the word, this embraces the principle of ensuring the well-being of both students and staff. Also includes preventing the spread of diseases in educational centers and promoting good hygiene habits.

Perhaps the first aspect of this topic begins with how proper hygiene helps prevent the spread of infectious diseases, such as colds, flu, gastroenteritis, and others. Among the most common are acute respiratory infections (ARIs), which are common throughout most of the year, with a significant increase in the months of intense heat, driven by the prevalence of high temperatures. Therefore, if isolated cases of ARIs attend schools, they can trigger large outbreaks that endanger the health of a larger number of people.

On the other hand, digestive-borne illnesses are also present, including acute diarrheal illnesses caused by food brought from home. Since most of it is prepared the day before, can spoil quickly. Ideally, food should be prepared the day it is to be consumed and the safest ones should be used. Based on their composition, in addition to taking appropriate measures for safe handling.

Similarly, an optimal school environment contributes to the physical and mental well-being of students and staff. To achieve this, hygiene must be promoted in schools and the importance of maintaining good personal hygiene habits must be taught. Such as frequent handwashing and proper personal and collective hygiene.

This way, values ​​that are in crisis in today’s society, such as responsibility and care for the environment, are instilled in students. A culture of mutual respect and collaboration is also promoted. A clean environment reduces the risk of contagion in both the academic and student environments.

Therefore, school hygiene is not only crucial for students’ physical health, but also impacts their academic performance, emotional well-being, and social development.

Therefore, for the new school year in Holguin and Cuba, to be as successful as families expect from a health perspective and to prevent regrettable health incidents, all agencies involved in this matter must work in a coordinated manner.

School health shouldn’t simply be a phrase adorning a classroom mural. It must be put into practice every day. This is only possible if, as families and as a society, we focus more on hygiene and less on material needs. Creating healthy environments should be a key foundation for our children’s desire to learn.

Translated by Aliani Rojas Fernandez

Maylín Betancourt Verdecia
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