Nkoranza (B/A) March 18 GNA - The School Health Education Programme (SHEP) Unit of the Nkoranza District Education Directorate has organized a day's workshop for 140 School Health Teachers to update their knowledge and skills in health education training in schools. The workshop was also aimed at promoting personal cleanliness, environmental sanitation as well as food and nutrition among school children.

Mr Jarvis R. Agyeman-Badu, District Director of Education, urged the teachers to inspect the health, fingernails and school uniforms of schoolchildren and to ensure their personal hygiene at all times. He called on the teachers to help keep school surroundings tidy and plant trees to beautify compound and to protect the buildings against rainstorms.

The District Director advised the teachers to dress decently and to be good role models to their students.

Mr. Agyeman-Badu urged School Management Committees and Parent Teacher Associations to ensure that sanitary facilities such as toilets and urinals are provided in schools.

Schools should also provide washing basins and encourage the children to use soap to wash their hands whenever they visited a place of convenience to protect themselves against communicable diseases, he said.

The District Director of Education advised teachers to organize meetings to educate students on the causes and effects of HIV/AIDS pandemic and other sexually transmitted diseases. Mrs. Christine Segbefia, outgoing SHEP coordinator in the district urged headteachers to ensure that food vendors in schools prepared their food under hygienic conditions to prevent the outbreak of epidemics. She said such food sellers must be examined at the hospitals and provided with certificates and teachers should periodically visit the food market in the school to check the activities of the food sellers.