An impressive collection of health and education experts have joined forces to tackle what has become an increasingly thorny education system issue: how can Ontario school boards best serve their most medically vulnerable students?
Funded by the
Ministry of Education and led by health and education nonprofit
Ophea, the recently announced research project will investigate four major prevalent conditions affecting Ontario students: asthma, anaphylaxis, diabetes and seizure disorders.
Teaming up with school board associations and research nonprofits (including especially the Canadian Diabetes Association), Ophea will undertake a rigorous and "holistic" needs-assessment with the intent of gaining "greater understanding of current policies and practices, medical conditions school boards currently address, as well as available resources, partnerships and implementation support."
The final report will help inform province-wide "management of student medical conditions in school settings."
Ophea, the Ontario Physical and Health Education Association, has long agitated for school boards to adopt standard emergency policies for students coping with chronic conditions.
And, indeed, Ontario made some progress after widely publicized school (mis)handling of student medical issues.
In 2005, the Ontario government passed a bill requiring all publicly funded schools in the province to establish and enforce an anaphylaxis action plan.
In December of 2013, a similar bill, this one mandating a standard school asthma policy, passed a second reading at Queen’s Park.
Both bills--named
Sabrina's Law and
Ryan's Law respectively--were introduced in response to what many experts, and families, saw as the preventable death of an Ontario student.
The tragedies spurred a provincial search for answers: how ought school boards best protect students who suffer from allergies and asthma? And what about other chronic conditions? What would a successful standardized plan look-like?
The Ministry of Education is hoping to tackle these questions. But first, it will consult the experts.
"As a mother and grandmother, I know that parents want — and deserve — to know that their children can go to school each day and be safe," stated Minister of Education Liz Sandals in a press release. "Ophea's research will be an important step in determining the best way to manage student medical conditions in our schools —including asthma, diabetes, anaphylaxis or epilepsy – so that our students continue to learn in safe and healthy schools."
As a long-established nonprofit and official school board association, Ophea seems especially well-positioned to take on the task. Ophea already regularly works with schools, school boards, parents, and students to establish school-wide emergency protocol.
Emergency protocols, that, according to Chris Markham, executive director and CEO of Ophea, need to become "system wide" in order to ensure that students are kept safe and families reassured.
"With funding support for this comprehensive needs assessment, the government has taken a significant step forward in ensuring the health and safety of our kids is addressed on a system-wide level," says Markham. "This will allow every student to feel safe and secure so they can fully participate throughout their school day."
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Ophea, Ministry of Education