Health Education Curriculum from Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Schools

Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Schools, in collaboration with Saamarthya Teachers Training Academy of Research (STTAR), Ghaziabad, has made a pioneering start by creating and launching a curriculum that puts health at the heart of school education.

Physical education has long been central to the learning experience of students at schools, but its scope as a discipline has rarely gone beyond inculcating sporting calibre and athletic brilliance in learners. The exigencies of health, hygiene, nutrition, lifestyle choices, and adolescent development have either been ignored altogether or touched upon rather superficially. Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Schools has identified this lacuna and also the need to fill it.

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic triggered the idea of creating a comprehensive curriculum for promoting health and actively nurturing health consciousness in students of all grades from I to XII. A part of this curriculum’s blueprint incorporates the recommendations of WHO’s global health initiative program that was launched in the mid-nineties for the health-promoting schools. A part of it is drawn from the opinions of medical experts and experienced educators. Put together, the Health Education Curriculum is an elaborate and meticulously created document that lays out a programme for nurturing a harmonious balance of body, mind, and emotions inside young learners.

Components of Health Education Curriculum

Students of different age groups have different health needs. The Health Education Curriculum of Seth Anandram Jaipuria School proposes eight age-appropriate components to meet these needs.

Nutrition and fitness
Health, hygiene and wellness
Disease control and prevention
Safety and first aid
Community and environmental health
Mental and emotional health
Substance, abuse and prevention
Adolescent education

These eight strands provide an elaborate framework to promote, protect and maintain physical, mental and emotional health of students. They aim to inform and empower students to make healthy lifestyle choices and inculcate in them a health consciousness that will have a multiplier effect to create a healthier community and society.

A clarion call to implement Health Education Curriculum in schools across India

The Health Education Curriculum of Seth Anandram Jaipuria School has already come in for praise from noted personalities in the education and health industry. The CBSE Secretary, Anurag Tripathi, who launched the Health Education Curriculum in a virtual ceremony on September 17, 2021, has already given out a clarion call to implement it across schools in India.

“The Health Education Curriculum is being launched at a very appropriate time. I wish to see this curriculum implemented in schools across India. If this curriculum is provided to us, we will try our best to take it to 15 lakh teachers and their students,” said Tripathi, who was the Chief Guest of the launch ceremony.

Anurag Tripathi’s request got a positive response from the Chairman of Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions, Shishir Jaipuria, who assured him of all possible support and cooperation.

The ceremony’s Guest of Honour was Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, a noted bariatric surgeon and founder of Digestive Health Institute by Dr. Muffi. He said that the Health Education Curriculum is a step in the right direction. This observation was seconded by the ceremony’s Special Guest, Dilip Thakore, Founder Editor of Education World. He said that the health curriculum will fill a very important lacuna in the education system.

The promise of a bright future

The implementation of the Health Education Curriculum has already begun at Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Schools. Its futuristic vision was laid out by the group’s Chairman, Shishir Jaipuria, at the launch ceremony.

He said, “NEP 2020 emphasizes the need for physical fitness and well-being of the students and our effort will significantly contribute to the aforesaid vision. It will also provide opportunities for young minds to actively take this as a skill-based course and pursue a career in this field. We will also be working with United Nations to further the cause of sustainable development goals relating to good health and well-being.”

The Health Education Curriculum has been conceptualized by Vinod Malhotra, Chairperson of Academic Council, STTAR, and created by a team of teachers. When fully implemented, it will introduce a new paradigm in education to nurture health-conscious individuals for a better future and stronger nation.