Students’ health, nutrition monitoring system launched

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) inked an agreement with Fritz and Macziol Asia Inc. (F&M Asia) for pilot-testing the development, installation and free access of internet and cloud-based student health and nutrition databases in six public schools in the city of Manila.

In a simple ceremony held at DepEd Office, Education Secretary Br. Armin Luistro and F&M Asia president Lutz Kunack signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) as part of the Aquino administration’s firm resolve to bridge the gap between students’ health and nutrition status and improved learner outcomes.

Under the MOA, F&M Asia will provide a cloud-based and enabled system for efficiently collecting and reporting student health and nutrition information, at no cost to DepEd.  Labeled as the Learner Health Appraisal System, the LHAS intends to provide increased access to data on health and nutritional status to support decision making at all levels of management, from the school to the division to the regional agency and ultimately, DepEd as national agency.

LHAS is envisioned to form part of DepEd’s effort to put a system in place for the early detection and intervention of health problems among public school pupils nationwide, especially among malnourished pupils. 

Under the agreement with F&M Asia, DepEd can eventually provide the effective gathering, storage, and access of student health and nutrition data in a timely manner and for analysis and proper targeting of intervention programs.

“Reliable, up-to-date, and easily accessible information is crucial to the DepEd in ensuring that proper and adequate care is given to the country’s public school children ,” Kunack said.

F&M Asia is one of the country’s leading systems integrators that provided automation and systems integration solutions for Holcim, Metro Bank and Trust Co., Smart Telecom, Globe Telecom and SM Shoemart, among others. 

F&M Asia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Imtech N. V., a European technical services provider in the fields of electrical engineering, information and communication technology and mechanical engineering.