Training Course on School Health [Archives:2001/41/Reportage]
Yaser M. Ahmed
Yemen Times
A training workshop on school health was held at the Higher Institute for Medical Sciences from 8/22 to 9/17. More than 35 female teachers took part at this training course, which is funded by the UNDP and the National Population Council. The goal of this course is to highlight the importance of school health to those who lack sufficient information on this subject.
Yemen Times met different people involved in this program and filed the following excerpts:
Abdulelah Al-Akam said that the training course for teachers on school health is, indeed, a good thing. The course tackled many health-related issues, particularly in the field of health education, which is very important for students. Moreover, the course tackled issues related to reproductive health and first aid since this information is critical to us. The people in charge of the program have exerted praiseworthy efforts in communicating the information in a clear manner to the participants.
Saif Ahmed as-Senwi from al-Salam Girls School in the Madbah quarter said that most teachers know nothing about the health aspects at schools, but fortunately they learned many things during this course. Similarly, they learned a lot about the associations involved in providing health and protecting the environment, such as the Red Crescent Association, the Environment Protection Society, and other societies of a similar nature. Saif Ahmed as-Senwi thinks that school health is mostly nonexistent in the majority of schools in Yemen. However, in taking part in this course the participants came to know many things, not only about school health, but also about many other health-related topics.
Wafa Abduljabar Shahir, teacher at al-Shima Girls School in the Old City of Sana’a said that the participants learned many useful skills, especially how to avoid infectious diseases and health-related skills in general. She said, “Indeed we used to be ignorant about many issues related to school health, but I think that spreading awareness among schoolgirls is much easier than doing that at boys’ schools, since girls are much more disciplined than boys. Ultimately I hope that we can apply the skills that we have gained into practice. That is the most important thing.”
Samira al-Rayash, a social worker at Ibn Majeed Secondary School affirmed that the course touched on many topics pertaining to school health, reproductive health and first aid. She added, “Unfortunately, some schools lack bathrooms and this causes many health problems. So I think the first thing the concerned authorities should do is to construct bathrooms at the schools lacking this basic service.”As far as the assistance of the European Support Program for the National Population Council Technical-Secretariat is concerned, Mujahid Ahmed al-Sha’ab, Director-General of the Population Media, said that the course is a follow-up for the assistance provided by the program for the educational sector through organizing seminars and training workshops in order to train teachers and including the issue of reproductive health in textbooks. In this regard they have implemented many programs with the help of the Population Education Program, the Teaching Professions Union, the Population Society and the Aden-based Child Rights Society.
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