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Mr D C Smiles (DA) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:
Whether her department provides (a) basic health, (b) hearing and/or (c) sight tests to school learners; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (i) in what grades are these tests conducted and (ii) what budget was made available for the provision of such tests in each of the three most recent financial years for which information is available?
Reply:
(a) The department has adopted a holistic approach to the early identification of barriers to learning by conducting provincial campaigns termed Lethimpilo Campaign. One of the key strength of the campaign is that it provides an integrated service delivery to school communities. Through this initiative, various potential barriers to learning, beyond health, are also identified and addressed through partnership with other government departments and civil society.
(b) and (c) Services provided include health screening of learners (visual, auditory, oral as well as assessing immunisation status), birth registration (Department of Home Affairs), social security (Department of Social Development), food production (Department of Agriculture), and sports and recreation amongst others. Learners, as well as community members who are screened receive on-site treatment where possible. Referrals are also made to local institutions for further assessment and management.
(i) The programme has targeted at least 10 000 Grade 4 learners per province. In 2007, the campaign was conducted in Free State, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West provinces. In 2008, the campaign was extended to Northern Cape and Eastern Cape.
(ii) Table 1 depicts the budget allocations for the screening activities over the years 2007-2009 for which information is available.
Table 1: Budget allocations for school health screening, Health Promotion Directorate
Financial Year:
2007/08: R5, 6 million
2008/09: R2, 8 million
2009/10: R2,5 million
Budgetary challenges have limited the full reach of this initiative. Therefore, in an effort to increase the reach of, and to institutionalise health screening within the education system, the department is presently working in collaboration with the Department of Health and other key stakeholders, to source further funds and to develop an implementation plan.