Uganda Private School Health Association
(UPSHA)
Strategic
Plan for Private School Health in Uganda
Introduction
Uganda Private School Health Association (UPSHA) is a nonprofit organization that brings
together private school health officers, physicians, nurses and all health
professionals employed in Ugandan private schools. UPSHA has been
organized by Uganda National Association of Private Schools and
Institutions (UNAPSI) and is directly linked to private school health
seeking communities through its member private school health officers.
Mission: Uganda
Private School Health Association (UPSHA) has the mission of organizing
private school health providers countrywide to foster the development of
appropriate and relevant school health policies, improve school clinic
services, improve school health officers’ expertise and provide updated
information about general health issues. UPSHA strives for a network of private
school clinic officers integrating awareness, competence, service and vigilance
in boosting the quality of school health in Uganda.
As part of our vision, we shall establish linkages and conduct
consultations on pertinent health issues like HIV/AIDS in schools, adolescent
sexual and reproductive health, nutrition, prescription and OTC medications,
teenage pregnancies, drug abuse, immunizations, allergies, contagious disease,
bedbugs, head lice, chronic diseases, etc for the healthful benefit of
students, school personnel and the community. All private school children
should achieve their full development potential, by studying in a healthy
environment in child-friendly private schools, free from disease, prejudice and
violence”.
With combined initiatives UPSHA will collaborate with Ministry
of Education and Sports (MOES), Ministry of Health (MOH), Uganda Medical
Association (UMA), Uganda Nurses Association, Uganda Private Medical and Dental
Practitioner (UPMDC), Uganda Allied Health Professionals, development partners,
departments and other health organizations.
Objectives;
1. Bring together private school health officers
and nurses in Uganda;
2. Provide a unified voice for private school
health officers and private school health clubs;
3. Network and share with members updated
information in the fields of medicine and nursing necessary for the attainment
of excellent school health services;
4. Promote the importance of a holistic approach
in handling school health issues;
5. Encourage research towards a more responsive
school health delivery system;
6. Inform members on the latest programs of the
government in line with improving the health and nutrition status of the school
populace;
7. Create a healthy, safer and hygienic
environment for private school communities;
8. Represent and advocate for the private school
health officers and programs.
For many years, the private school health sector has not been
represented, coordinated or adequately promoted on most health plans and
programs. We envision healthy private students who learn and achieve in safe
and healthy environments nurtured by caring adults functioning within
coordinated private school health and community support systems. We believe
that protecting private school students and ensuring that they have safe and
supportive environments in which to learn and grow should be one of the most
important goals of any private school. We further believe that:
▪ Health and learning are directly linked and
essential to the development of healthy citizens.
▪ Schools are uniquely positioned to help
students acquire healthy habits for a lifetime.
▪ A coordinated private school health approach
is the most effective and efficient means of promoting healthy students.
▪ Private school health professionals should be
adequately trained and practice evidence-based health and education strategies.
▪ Private schools should be safe and nurturing
environments that facilitate education for all.
▪ Private schools should provide preventive and
curative services that address needs of private school children;
▪ Private schools should ensure provision of
safe water and adequate sanitation facilities in schools;
▪ Private schools should improve and enhance
knowledge of students and teachers about School Health, including prevention of
diseases, management of disabilities and special learning needs, HIV, SRH, GBV,
hygiene, nutrition, physical education and mental health;
▪ Private schools should ensure that children
and young people are equipped with the information, knowledge, skills and
values to make responsible choices and to achieve their full potential.
It is therefore the mission of UNAPSI and UPSHA to transform
all private schools into healthy places where every student learns and thrives.
Reaching our goal will require dedication, energy and resources which must be
planned and allocated thoughtfully. Acknowledging this, UNAPSI and UPSHA has
plotted key strategies that will propel UPSHA to a future where we will be
better poised to reach for our mission:
Health Promoting Private School
A health promoting school will strive to provide a safe and
protective environment, psychosocial care and support, and opportunities for
physical education and recreation;
A health promoting school will provide skills-based health
education with a focus on promoting well-being, preventing health problems,
promoting activities appropriate to children’s intellectual and emotional
abilities and helping children to make healthy choices and adopt healthy
behaviors throughout their lives;
A health promoting school engages health and education
officials, teachers, parents and community leaders in efforts to promote health
with families and communities involved in the school with a special focus on a
school/community plan on school health;
A health promoting school is one where girls and boys learn in a
quality learning environment, ensuring that there are sufficient water and
adequate sanitation facilities for both girls and boys, without losing sight of
children with disabilities;
A health promoting school is a school where students have access
to age-appropriate, reliable information on relationships and sexuality and
where youth is supported to access prevention and treatment services for HIV
including sexual and reproductive health commodities to prevent them from
diseases, teenage pregnancies and to give them the opportunity to develop their
lives to their full potential;
A health promoting school is one where girls and boys are
provided with age appropriate knowledge and skills to prevent communicable
disease such as for millions of young people around the world - the biological
onset of adolescence – brings not only changes to their bodies but also new
vulnerabilities to human rights abuses, particularly in the arenas of
sexuality, marriage and child bearing. Millions of girls are coerced into
unwanted sex or marriage which predisposes them to high risks of unwanted
pregnancies, unsafe abortions, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV,
and complications which result from childbirth.
School health improves health knowledge, attitudes and skills,
health behaviors and health outcomes, and improves educational and social
outcomes. The well-being of the learners is essential to quality education. For
children to develop their full potential through full participation in
educational activities and acquire knowledge and skills to become productive
citizens who will lead their country to wealth and prosperity, it is important
to ensure that all children enjoy a healthy, safe and protected childhood,
public or private.
Situational Analysis
The Ugandan private education sector is almost equal to the
public education sector and at some levels it surpasses the public education
enrollment. Schools are strategic centers to address most of the health
challenges and programs for the formal school going youth and children. School
health lies within the scope of sector policies and international, regional and
national strategies. It is aligned and contributes to the achievement of goals
of various international commitments and also national laws, policies and
sector strategies of Uganda.
Key Challenges
Some of the major barriers to learning for children in Uganda
are poor health, poverty, environmental factors such as inadequate water and
sanitation facilities, inadequate school infrastructure, communicable and
non-communicable diseases and gender based violence. These factors impact on
attendance at schools and on learner's ability to concentrate on school
lessons, leading to a high drop-out and poor performance.
Strategic Framework
1. Strategies For Achieving Objectives
1. Advocacy
2. Capacity Building and Strong Membership base
3. Research on Private School Health issues and
challenges
4. Coordination and collaboration among
stakeholders
5. Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
6. Life skills development and transfer
7. Parents and community involvement/engagement,
and ownership
2. Key Strategic Areas
Seven key strategic areas were identified through stakeholder
consultations and SWOT analysis. The following areas form the basis of the
strategic results framework:
1. Health
promotion, disease prevention and control;
2. HIV,
AIDS and other STIs;
3. Sexual
and Reproductive Health and Rights;
4. Gender
and Gender Based Violence (GBV) issues
6. School
nutrition;
7. Physical
education;
8. Mental
health, chronic diseases and related needs.
3. Priority Setting, Outputs And Key Strategies
3.1.Health promotion, disease prevention and
control
Output: All private school children and youth
reached by comprehensive health promotion and diseases prevention and control
programs
Key strategies:
1. Enabling
policy and financial framework for School Health;
2. Prevention
and early detection of diseases and chronic health conditions;
3. Early
identification and management of disabilities and special learning needs;
4. First
aid kit at schools;
5. Capacity
building of teachers and students on School Health;
6. Improvement
of M&E system on School Health.
4. Prevention of HIV and other STIS
Output: All private
school children and youth reached by comprehensive HIV and STIs prevention
andcontrol programs
Key strategies:
1. Knowledge
of HIV and STIs;
2. Supportive
environment for HIV-positive students and teachers;
3. M&E
activities in the context of HIV, AIDS and other STIs.
5. Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Output 1: adolescent
and young adults reached by friendly sexual and reproductive health (SRH)
programs
Key strategies:
1. Intergenerational
communication and information about SRH;
2. Promotion
of education on sexual and reproductive health at appropriate levels.
6. Gender and GBV issues
Output 1: all
private school children and youth empowered by existing governance structures
on gender issues
Key strategies:
1. Management
of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) cases;
2. Management
of adolescent pregnancies in schools;
3. Follow-up
children dropping out of schools (girls in the majority of the cases).
7. Promotion of environmental health in private
schools
Output: All private
school children and youth have access to improved hygienic and healthy
environments in schools
Key strategies:
1. Provision
of safe water to the children and staff in the schools;
2. Provision
of gender-sensitive sanitation facilities in schools;
3. Promotion
of hygiene, including menstrual hygiene management;
4. Operationalization
of solid waste management systems in schools;
5. Provision
of adequate safe, private and clean toilet facilities in schools;
6. Promotion
of environment protection.
8. School Nutrition
Output: All
school children and youth reached by a comprehensive nutrition program
Key strategies:
- Operationalization of Home-Grown School
Feeding Program at schools;
- Continuation of other school feeding
interventions;
- Supplementation of micronutrients;
- Promotion of nutrition education.
9. Physical Education
Output: All school community members reached by comprehensive physical
education andsports programs
Key strategies:
- Strengthening of physical education and sports
curriculum in schools;
- Promotion of sport activities to raise
awareness;
- Availability and management of physical
education and sports facilities and equipment.
Output: All
private school children and youth with mental health issues and drug addiction
receive adequate counseling at schools
Key strategies:
1. Provision
of basic psychosocial counseling;
2. Strengthening
integrated referral system for mental health;
3. Prevention
and control of alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuses.
11. Capacity
Building
An important component of the Private School Health Strategic
Plan refers to capacity building. A special component of the training refers to
the “school health officers’ training. Pre- and in-service training of officers
should contain all key areas presented in this strategic plan, as a general “school
health training”. Establishment of health clubs in private which will include
discussions about AIDS, environmental health and hygiene, gender based
violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, nutrition, malaria, mental
health, community health, non-communicable diseases, children under five years
and immunization and HPV surveillance. Further, the following will be necessary
to strengthen the capacity of UPSHA.
a) Increase UPSHA’s membership base and
recognition in the country
- Organize meetings of private school health
officers and nurses
- Create infrastructure to grow membership
- Participate in national health conferences and
influence stakeholder support for private school health.
b) Increase organizational communication
within UPSHA and outward communities
- Publish news and collaborate with youth health
journals in Uganda.
c) Increase Structure, governance and nationwide
participation by members, increase representation from all regions of Uganda,
giving all private school nurses an active voice.
- Support regional representation through
regional chapters.
- Collaborate with partners to increase
membership.
d) Formalize collaborations and relationships with
other related organizations that are committed to school health advocacy.
e) Promote private school health research and
innovation.
12. Institutional
Framework
The Private School Health strategic plan implementation will
require a solid implementation effort from all involved parties, representing a
diversity of players. Significant inputs in terms of financial and human
resources will be required to support Private School Health interventions in
each of the seven health priority areas.
A Steering Committee composed of a core group of decision makers
will meet quarterly to provide overall leadership and guidance on the
implementation of the strategic plan and the achievement of the School Health
priority actions. Health in Uganda is the responsibility of the Ministry of
Health (MOH) along with the support of line ministries, different governmental
and non-governmental agencies including local and international organizations,
development partners, UN agencies (e.g WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, WFP, UNAIDS, FAO),
development partner projects, the private sector and other health and education
sector implementing partners. Collaboration among all stakeholders is a key for
the successful implementation of School Health strategies and activities. The
work of the Steering Committee will be supported by a School Health Technical
Working Group.
13. Monitoring
and Evaluation
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is an integral part in the
development of School Health strategic plan. The objective of M&E plan is to
assess achievements against goals defined during the elaboration of a School
Health strategy or activity. Special studies like surveys and surveillance
studies will be developed and implemented at certain point of time to measure
what the strategy has achieved. It also enables to gather lessons learned to
improve future strategic plans’ development and
implementation.
An important part of the implementation of this strategic plan
will be to generate research findings and lessons learned to be shared across
ministries. Those data will inform the evidence-based decision making process
of policymaking, advocacy, and program evaluation. In addition to a
surveillance system, sub-strategy will define formative research needs to be
conducted in specific private school health areas.
Uganda Private School Health Association
(UPSHA)
C/o
Uganda National Association of Private Schools
and Institutions
(UNAPSI)
P.O. Box 29324 Kampala,
Uganda
Tel: 256-783 398702 /
0701 466440
Mazima Mall, Kabalagala,
Gaba Road.
