The State government is yet to take any decision on repeated pleas by organisations of Type 1 diabetics to provide training to teachers in State schools on caring for students with the chronic condition.
At present, summer vacation training for teachers includes a module prepared by the Kerala Social Security Mission as part of Mittayi, a State government project to provide medicines and care to children with Type 1 diabetes (T1D), but this is not adequate, say parents of children with the condition.
Mittayi scheme
Nearly 2,000 children in the State are registered with Mittayi, but the actual number of children with T1D is much more. Thiruvananthapuram has the maximum number of such children, around 250, followed by Kollam and Kozhikode, say the organisations.
In Kozhikode, the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) had given training to teachers in 78 schools the previous month in caring for children with T1D. This should be replicated in the other districts, say the organisations.
The Type 1 Diabetes Foundation wrote to Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty, General Education Principal Secretary Rani George, and Director of General Education Shanavas S. last month seeking to entrust various DIETs with training teachers of schools that have T1D students.
The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) recently decided to teach class 10 students about Type 1 diabetes in biology as part of the new curriculum. The SCERT decision came on a petition by a parent that highlighted the need for creating awareness of the condition among students but also pointed out how teachers perceived Type 1 diabetes that usually appears in childhood or adolescence to be Type 2 diabetes, mostly seen in adults.
Parents say that as TID is a condition in which the pancreas fails to produce insulin that is needed for sugar to enter cells and produce energy, it is imperative that teachers be trained to assist students in case of sugar fluctuation so that hospital visits can be reduced. For this, teachers should be made aware of TID, its causes, importance of monitoring of blood sugar levels, and insulin administration. With teachers at hand, parents, especially those from low-income backgrounds, will no longer have to frequent or stay put in schools to keep an eye on their children, often at the cost of their livelihood. Teachers will not need to stand by, helpless, till first aid arrives. Trained teachers will also be able to impart students a confidence that their health will not suffer, besides improving openness and transparency about TID, say the parents.
With students and parents under a lot of stress, it is important that teachers be equipped with the skill to manage the condition and a TID-friendly school environment be provided.
