ARMM celebrates global handwashing day

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Public officials and representatives of international entities providing quality education to Moro school children led Wednesday’s observance of the Global Handwashing Day in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Jamar Kulayan, ARMM’s education secretary, and representatives from the Australian Aid and the Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), led school children in separate handwashing events at the regional government compound here and in a public school in Barangay Landasan in Parang, Maguindanao.

A delegation from the office of Education Secretary Armin Luistro and officials of the Fit for School, Inc. also joined in the two activities, capped off with the launching of an expanded, comprehensive health program for ARMM’s school children.

The ARMM covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in mainland Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

The expanded health program for school children will be jointly implemented by the ARMM government, which will construct handwashing facilities in 255 selected schools in the region, and foreign entities implementing education programs benefiting Moro communities.

One of the highlights in Wednesday’s observance of the Global Handwashing Day in the autonomous region was an inspection, by regional education officials and their counterparts from international organizations, of the Sarmiento West Elementary School in Parang.

The school was adjudged as best implementer of the government’s Essential Health Care Program (EHCP) for children.

"The program aims to protect our school children from communicable diseases that can be prevented through proper hygiene," Kulayan said.

The expansion of the EHCP throughout the region is part of the school health component of the Basic Education Assistance of Muslim Mindanao (BEAM), which is being bankrolled by the Australian government.

The implementation of BEAM’s health components involves Germany’s GIZ and other cooperating entities.

Kulayan said the EHCP aims to provide low-cost, but effective health interventions for school children such as periodic deworming, regular handwashing with soap and daily brushing of teeth.