The global net enrolment rate for primary education is around 89% in the year 2020 and that of Lower middle-income
countries and India is 87% and 92%respectively. The gross enrolment ratio in primary education for India has increased
from 96.8% in 2019 to 99.9% in 2020 and hence schools can be the best platform to render the primary health care
services to children with maximum coverage. School based health care services aim to meet the needs of disadvantaged
populations, address the health-related obstacles to educational achievement, and address the cultural, financial, and
privacy and transportation related barriers to clinical, preventive health care services.
Comprehensive health care programmes addressing the indispensable health needs of children are still missing in many
low- and middle-income countries. WHO has published its first-ever guideline on school health services in 2021, providing
a menu of 87 specific interventions for improving child health. In this article, we would like to document school health
care services provided at different periods of time in Tamil Nadu, a southern state in India. Beginning from the year 1962,
different initiatives of school health care services focussing on specific health issue like Rheumatic Heart diseases, dental
problems, refractive errors, menstrual hygiene, anemia correction etc. in addition to general medical screening were
implemented based on the needs. After 2014, many of the above components were brought under one roof Rashtriya
Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) with expanded resources of exclusive health team with vehicle support functioning
on all days a week. The referral and treatment services were strengthened availing the existing state health insurance
scheme and integrating with other programmes and voluntary organizations. Like implementation of any other public
health intervention, school health services also have a remarkable history, evolving with the changing needs, and has set
trajectory to recreate in similar settings. Few areas of concern like covering non-school going and juvenile homes need to
be addressed.