Don't just demand that the floor shines.

Your child's health is very important, especially since they don't have a fully developed immune system yet and won't have one until they are 8 years old. Therefore, it is very important that when you look for a preschool, you do not only look at its location, educational or eating habits, but also at its cleanliness and disinfection, since that will depend on whether your child will contract diseases.

Avoiding the spread of diseases at school may seem like an impossible mission, but, without a doubt, good hygiene, as well as proper cleaning and disinfection of the facilities will help reduce the transmission of diseases and take care of the health of the youngest members of the family, as it significantly reduces the likelihood of contagion through surfaces. The most common viruses and bacteria can last up to 48 hours on contaminated surfaces such as toys, school material, educational supports, tables, etc. It is therefore very important that the cleaning of the nursery school includes these surfaces.

It has been demonstrated that approximately 80% of illnesses contracted in work spaces, in this case, educational spaces, are caused by deficiencies in the cleanliness and hygiene of the installation. Furthermore, this cleanliness depends on the type of activity carried out in the centre, and in this case, speaking of children, the preventive measures must be more demanding.

Children are constantly picking up, sucking and touching everything around them. Therefore, so that there is no contagion among them, all surfaces in the school should be cleaned and disinfected on a daily basis. This includes, in addition to toilets, floors, tables and chairs, toys and educational material that they share daily and that are the main vehicle for the transmission of infections such as colds, flu, conjunctivitis, gastroenteritis, etc.

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of this cleaning and disinfection plan, Altol Dominicana has designed a protocol for the evaluation and verification of the hygienic-sanitary conditions of daycare centers and nursery schools, a pioneer system in the country that guarantees the control of the safety of the areas and surfaces used by children, issuing a certificate of conformity.

Wherever you see the Altol Hygiene Certificate, the cleanliness of the nursery school is assured. This certificate is a seal of verification of the correct cleanliness and hygiene in collective establishments. Therefore, nursery schools cannot be missing among its customers.

This is the first independent hygiene certificate to emerge in the Dominican Republic for parents' peace of mind and children's safety, as we no longer have to assume that nursery schools are properly cleaned and sanitized. Now we can be sure of this as parents and have peace of mind when we leave our children.

By Roberto Martínez Sillas
Microbiologist and Industrial Hygienist