Nanyang Girls' High suspends boarding programme

Nanyang Girls' High School has suspended its boarding schoolprogramme for a week and is monitoring the situation after 110students staying in the boarding school fell ill. The principalsaid the majority of the affected girls were back in school as ofMonday, while the rest were recovering well.

Nanyang Girls' High School has suspended its boarding schoolprogramme as it investigates the cause of a food poisoning incidentthat left 110 students ill last week.

The school said yesterday it has suspended the programme thatthe affected students were participating in for a week and iscontinuing to monitor the situation.

It added that no new cases were reported yesterday and that itwas working with the authorities to look into the cause of theincident.

The school has also taken steps to disinfect the dining and foodpreparation areas as well as the boarding school premises.

Nanyang Girls' High principal, Madam Ng Chuen-Yin, said that themajority of the students were back in school as of Monday, whilethe rest were recovering well.

"Our foremost concern, as always, is the well-being of ourstudents," she said, adding that parents have been informed of thesituation.

She said that most of the students did not choose to see adoctor as the symptoms were mild.

Those who did seek medical attention were reportedly diagnosedwith stomach flu and food poisoning.

The affected girls, who are primarily in Secondary 2, werestaying in the Nanyang Girls' High boarding school.

When The Straits Times visited the school, students said thattheir classmates began showing symptoms of food poisoning onWednesday and Thursday last week - with one saying that 10 of herclassmates fell ill over two days.

"I think the cause should be the food in the boarding schoolbecause some of the permanent boarders also had stomach aches.

"I can't really remember what food they served so I'm not surewhat exactly could have caused it," said one affected student whodeclined to be named because she said that students were told notto give media interviews.

Another student said that the school has been conducting daily"well-being checks".

These checks have been conducted across all the four levels ofclasses, with teachers asking students if they had any lingeringsymptoms of stomach flu or food poisoning.