Ras Al Khaimah schools told to recruit nurses to curb H1N1 spread

Ras Al Khaimah: The RAK Educational Zone has officially warned some private schools and instructed them to recruit nurses to tend to students in line with H1N1 precautionary measures.

According to Abdullah Hamad Al Shehi, head of the RAK Educational Zone, some private schools in the emirate were not heeding instructions issued by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health.

He added that the presence of a nurse was a prerequisite for every school and said there were no exceptions to the rule.

Al Shehi stressed that these concerned schools had repeatedly been sent official letters instructing them to appoint nurses at their premises as soon as possible.

However, it appeared some of them have not taken the issue seriously, Al Shehi said.

He added that the Educational Zone would proceed to crack down on schools found failing to adhere to the directive.

Al Shehi said the schools had been given a few days grace period before the zone takes further action.

He stressed that the RAK Educational Zone wanted to see unshakable commitment from private schools on the implementation of the instructions of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health.

Al Shehi also said inspection teams would be visiting schools to assess their commitment and report any non-adherence. Errant schools will be judged under articles of the law and circulars of both ministries.

Most of the public schools in the emirate have nurses to look after the children, he said, before adding that only few had not provided nurses to date. He, however, stressed that nurses would soon be recruited in a couple of public schools that do not have nurses at their premises.

Al Shehi said the RAK Educational Zone was carefully monitoring both private and public schools on all issues related to the H1N1 virus.

Understanding

A majority of schools had shown a deep understanding of the concerns of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health during the inspection campaigns, he said.

He said that the plan which the zone implemented to raise the public awareness on the H1N1 had borne fruits, as the cooperation of families and parents in line with H1N1 directives had been more than satisfactory.

Al Shehi said the zone had succeeded in raising public awareness on the virus.