Training of master trainers on school health and wellness
To advance on the successful implementation of the School Health and Wellness Programme (SHWP) in all 29,000 Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliated schools, and in partnership with CBSE and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), UNESCO organized the second training session of Master Trainers on 1-5 May and 8-12 May 2023 at NCERT premises.
Altogether over 200 participants attended the two training sessions, comprising principals, teachers and counsellors from North and West India regions (Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu).
Senior officials and dignitaries from NCERT and CBSE, including Prof. Dinesh Prasad Saklani, Director NCERT; Prof. Sridhar Srivastava, Joint Director NCERT; Dr Zoya Rizvi, Deputy Commissioner, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; and Prof. Saroj Yadav, Former Dean (Academic) NCERT, were also present at the inaugural training session.
The School Health and Wellness Programme (SHWP) was launched by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the Aegis of Ayushman Bharat. The programme envisages two teachers in each School as Health and Wellness Ambassadors/Coordinators, who will conduct age-appropriate and culturally sensitive prevention and promotion school activities to improve the health and well-being of school going children in grades VI to XI. To implement the programme, a resource package which includes a 24-hour curriculum, training modules and guides for teachers and facilitators have been prepared by NCERT in consultation with domain experts.
Investment in the health of children is an important priority and the school health programme will provide children with knowledge and life skills to help them to cope with the process of growing up and to develop a positive attitude in life. The programme also promotes informed, responsible and healthy behaviour among school-going children.
The initiative is aligned to the UNESCO Strategy on Education for Health and Well-Being, which emphasizes the need to support national education UNESCO committed to strengthening the links between education and health, reflecting growing national and international recognition that a more comprehensive approach to school health and coordinated action across sectors is needed.
For the first phase of the training sessions on the SHWP, UNESCO collaborated with CBSE and NCERT to conduct two capacity building workshops for CBSE affiliated schools in 2022. A total of 180 principals, teachers and counsellors were trained as Master Trainers on SHWP and they went on to conduct trainings in their respective regions from September 2022 to March 2023. As a result, approximately an additional 5,000 teachers were trained as Health and Wellness Ambassadors/Coordinators, and more than 8,200 students received classroom sessions from these Master Trainers and Ambassadors/Coordinators.