Health Promoting Schools

HPS is an approach that fosters health and learning with all the measures at its disposal, by engaging health and education officials, teachers, students, parents, health providers and community leaders in an effort to make the school a healthy place and bring overall behavioural changes among the children”. MPVHA strongly believes that we can significantly reduce and prevent many of leading causes of death, disease and disability by inculcating healthy practices in children, educating them to adopt healthy behaviour and life style through health education, providing a motivating school environment and stimulating through social policies and conditions.

MPVHA is implementing a project on Developing Health Promoting Schools (HPS) in Smart City Indore with the support of John Snow India Private Limited under Building Healthy Cities(BHC) project supported by USAID in close collaboration with Indore Smart City Development Company Limited (ISCDL), District Administration, Municipal Corporation and district  Education Department.

One of BHC multi sector initiative in Indore is to implement HPS approach in  middle, high and higher secondary city schools. MPVHA intervening in 148 schools. This activity includes a series of assessments of schools to provide data on gaps and improvements, complemented by training of teachers on HPS topics, and addressing identified gaps through school led interventions. HPS is also an effective approach for early action on Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) risk factors.

• Developed scientific, user friendly training manual in local language (Hindi)
• Involved in building the capacity of 300 School Principals and Teachers.
• Done Pre assessment of the schools with the help of well designed and developed checklist with active involvement of trained teachers.
• Sensitization of higher authorities through one to one contact and getting them involved in policy, strategy framing and approval.
• Ensuring active participation of teachers, students and parents to have their ownership

• The interventions started in  systematic and smooth manner, manual developed, training conducted, pre assessment done. But due to COVID pandemic the schools are closed and post assessment and other interventions have not been done. Hope to re strengthen and finish the due assignment once  the schools are open.

• Teachers have been trained and sensitized about importance of schools in health promotion.
• School Health Program strengthened.

MPVHA has long experience in the field of school health promotion. It started school health program in the year 1986-87. At the initial stage Training Manual for primary and middle schools developed separately and member organizations were trained. The project was implemented with the support of Christian Aid, London. Interventions done in health, hygiene and primary health.