Vice President Faisal Naseem said on Tuesday that the "Health Promoting Schools Conference," which commenced today, comes at the most opportune time and would benefit students immensely. He made this statement while speaking at the ceremony to inaugurate the conference officially.
The first "Health Promoting Schools Conference" in the Maldives would be held from August 25-27, 2022, at Thaajuddeen School. The Minister of Education, Dr Aishath Ali; the Minister of Health, Ahmed Naseem; and the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative to the Maldives, Dr Nazneen Anwar, also attended the ceremony.
Speaking at the function, the Vice President stressed on the increasing number of non-communicable diseases in the Maldives over recent years and how it entails students. Speaking about the importance of ensuring healthy lifestyles and promoting healthy habits in children at a young age, the Vice President called on parents to ensure their children receive nutritious food and regular exercise.
The conference is organised by the Ministry of Education and WHO, in association with Thaajuddeen School. It seeks to promote the implementation of the Ministry’s Health Promoting Schools Initiative and acts as a platform to share the knowledge and experiences of participating schools in ensuring health-promoting environments in all schools. The theme of the conference is "sustain (good practices), embrace (innovations), and accelerate (progress)."
136 participants from 17 schools in the Greater Malé Region would attend the conference, and representatives from 79 schools from the atolls would join as online observers. It would see the participation of teachers and management of schools in addition to students and parents.
