Cambodi-Education ministry faces flak for closures #EV71

Education ministry faces flak for closures

Friday, 20 July 2012

Children wait to be picked up from a school in Phnom Penh after kindergarten and primary schools were closed on Wednesday. Photograph: Vireak Mai/Phnom Penh Post

A number of factors were weighed when making Wednesday’s decision to close all of Cambodia’s primary schools and kindergartens in an bid to stymie the spread of EV71, but the Ministry of Health’s opinion does not appear to have been one of them.

Dr Ly Sovann, deputy director of the Communicable Disease Control Department of the Ministry of Health, said that his ministry had not counselled the Ministry of Education to shutter the nation’s classrooms.

“No. It is not recommended by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization,” Sovann said via text message.

In fact, education officials said, the Ministry of Education didn’t even consult with the Ministry of Health in making its decision – at least not in person.
Pen Saroeun, director of the School Health Department of the Ministry of Education, said yesterday that the decision was based solely on media reports, teachers’ concerns and online materials from the Ministry of Health and the WHO....
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012072057538/National-news/ministry-faces-flak-for-closures.html