As part of the School Health Education Project: Skills-Based Approach, UNICEF Gulf Area Office, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and SEHA Ambulatory Health Services organised the final day evaluation workshop for the participating school nurses and health coordinators recently, at the Ministry of Health. The initiative is sponsored by du under its wellness umbrella 'Every Step Counts'.

The aim of this workshop was to obtain feedback from the participating nurses and health coordinators on the implementation and delivery of health education-using a skills-based approach, to students to the selected 18 government schools across the UAE.

The next step of the Project is to finalise the health education training manual, and develop a plan of action to strengthen the delivery of health education sessions in the UAE. Focus group discussions with health and education authorities, nurses and students were held to gain a deeper, mutual understanding of the project's mission, as well as to determine the requirements of the training manual.

Hala Badri, Executive Vice President, Brand and Communications, du, said: "The findings of these exercises are invaluable for shaping the future of health education for our children. Being part of this groundbreaking initiative is in line with our commitment to encouraging better wellbeing across the UAE, through our Every Step Counts campaign. Establishing healthier habits amongst our nation's children is way of spreading awareness throughout the community. By supporting the School Health Education project, we are seeding sustainable health trends that will truly benefit the UAE now and in the future."

Dr. Ibrahim El Ziq, UNICEF Gulf Area Office Representative, added: "The purpose of the programme is to increase students' awareness on how to lead a healthy lifestyle by increasing the capacity of school nurses/health coordinators to deliver health education sessions using a skills-based approach. With our partners on the project, we aim to finalize the training manual and develop a policy plan to mainstream the programme a across all schools in the UAE."

The School Health Education Project, aimed at increasing UAE school students' awareness of how to lead a healthy lifestyle, was launched in December 2013 and ran for one school year across 18 government schools across the nation, with two in each of the emirates, Al Ain and the Western Province. 

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