The Health Promotion Department at the Supreme Council for Family Affairs in Sharjah (SCFA) has announced the launch of the first phase of the Healthy Schools Programme approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO)
The programme was launched in collaboration with the Sharjah Private Education Authority (SPEA) and the Royal Health Awareness Society of Jordan.
Iman Rashid Saif, director of the department, said that the three-year programme was aimed at 112 private schools and 183926 private school students, nurseries, kindergartens, academic staff, school management, parents and all relevant categories in society.
“After the announcement of the programme last June, the workgroups held several coordination meetings to review means of cooperation with the relevant government and private sectors in the Emirate of Sharjah. Also, panel discussions were held with the students, parents, media, community figures to discuss the areas covered by this programme,” she added.
The director pointed out that the first phase of the programme will be launched in September. This phase includes the signing of a cooperation agreement with the participating and cooperating authorities and the organisation of a training workshop, in cooperation with a number of experts from WHO.
Saif emphasised that the aim of the programme is to improve and develop a healthy and safe environment in schools, underlining that such an environment will have a positive impact on the growth of students physically, socially and educationally.
“In addition, the programme will help improve the school environment through the implementation of certain criteria for evaluation. This includes the evaluation of school buildings and its surroundings, with a particular focus on the physical activity, proper nutrition, students’ mental health and ways of prevention from infectious diseases,” Saif noted.
She concluded that the programme is working under the umbrella of the UAE Vision 2021 to achieve an indicator of reducing obesity rates among children and adolescents and to provide a healthy environment that promotes healthy behaviour among students, in addition to increasing the ability of schools to address health challenges.
