Battambang provincial governor Sok Lou speaks in a meeting on the improvement of quality of education in Battambang province on July 26. PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION
Battambang’s Department of Education, Youth and Sport is to establish a health education committee for schools at the provincial and district level.
The move comes as provincial governor Sok Lou instructed all schools to urgently review food hygiene and environment concerns at schools.
Lou was attending a meeting on strengthening the provincial-level quality of education and the model for transferring the functions of kindergarten and primary education to the district administration in Battambang province on July 26.
"Food hygiene and environment issues are a part of the reason for a decline in the number of outstanding students, with a number of students dropping out of school because of unclean food and an unsanitary environment," he said.
Provincial education department director Yi Songky said officials had just set up a health education office under the guidance of the ministry, with a provincial and district level school health education committee to be organised.
"We set up this committee to monitor food hygiene, food outlets and the canteens at schools, and we have been working on this matter to ensure student safety," he told The Post on July 27.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, there had been cases of students fainting, Songky said, with some a result of students not eating breakfast or getting enough sleep, while others were related to consuming the food sold at school.
Phnom Penh Municipal education department director Hem Sinareth told The Post that officials continue monitoring the sale of food at schools, following the instruction of the education and health ministries and the Phnom Penh Municipal Administration regarding food safety.
"We continue implementing and monitoring food safety, especially prohibited foods such as sweet foods or sugary drinks.
"The education department has not relaxed. We are constantly monitoring this matter, especially regarding prohibited foods," Sinareth said.
Education ministry spokesman Ros Soveacha told The Post on July 27 that officials continue to pay full attention to the health of students and educational staff at all levels according to existing mechanisms.
"The ministry believes that the ban on the sale of the six types of food will help prevent food poisoning among students by urging greater caution in selecting only foods that have positive benefits for health and intellectual growth,” Soveacha said.
The ministry has urged teachers and school administrators to continue paying close attention to student health, which is a vital factor in learning, he added.
A team from the NGO Helen Keller International (Cambodia) has been collecting data on healthy diets at 44 primary schools in provinces such as Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Thom, Siem Reap and Ratanakkiri. The data is to form part of their research on healthy diets among primary school students.
The research is to provide comprehensive information for the drafting of strategy on changing individual and social attitudes to promote positive attitudes related to nutrients, especially healthy diets among school children, Helen Keller International said.
The study is collaboration between the department of health education, the UN World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Helen Keller International.
On May 2019, the education ministry banned all public and private educational institutions from selling six main types of unhealthy food products.
These include expired foods; alcoholic beverages and tobacco products; foods without a clear source; unhealthy drinks such as energy drinks, sugary drinks and coffee; unhealthy foods such as ice cream, chocolate and chewing gum; and sugary foods such as jelly, doughnuts and candy.
