News & Event

The Ministry of Education for Education, the Ministry of Education, represented by the Center for Vocational Guidance and Student Guidance, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, represented by the School and University Health Department, and the World Health Organization, celebrated yesterday morning (Tuesday) the honoring of the winning schools in the Health Promoting Schools Initiative at the school level of the Sultanate of Oman for the academic year 2022/2023. The celebration took place in the Khasab Hall at the the Ministry of Education General Diwan.

The ceremony was held under the patronage of HE Prof. Dr. Abdullah bin Khamis Ambosaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Education, and in the presence of HE Dr. Jean Yaqoub Jabour, representative of the World Health Organization in Muscat, and Al Sayyeda Sana bint Hamad Al Busaidi, advisor to the Minister and in charge of the Center for Vocational Guidance and Student Guidance, and Dina Al Khalili, Director-General of Al Jisr Foundation for Charitable Work, a number of department directors, school principals, and school health nurses.

The ceremony began with a speech by HE Dr. Jean Yacoub Jabour, Representative of the World Health Organization in Muscat, in which he said: “The goal of the Global School Health Initiative launched by the World Health Organization is to increase the number of schools that can truly be called “health promoting schools.” Although definitions will vary depending on need and circumstances, a health-promoting school can be described as a school that is constantly working to enhance its capacity as a healthy environment to live, learn and work. This important initiative is another sign of success in the field of digitization and the development of modern innovation in the world of technology, by launching an electronic platform for health-promoting schools this academic year.”

Dr. Said bin Al-Mukhaini from the School and University Health Department at the Ministry of Health gave a speech on behalf of the central evaluation team for the health-promoting schools initiative, in which he pointed out the seven components of the initiative, namely: policies and strategies for working in the initiative, acquiring knowledge and developing skills, adopting health-promoting

behaviors and health care services, school environment enhancement, mental health, nutrition promotion and food safety, and physical activity promotion.

Dina Al-Khalili, Director-General of Al-Jisr Foundation for Charitable Works, spoke about the initiative and said: “Al-Jisr Foundation joined alongside the Ministries of Health and Education and the World Health Organization to support and develop this initiative, believing that education and health are inseparable, as the school health program is one of the most successful examples of cooperation between sectors in the Sultanate of Oman, and this is what the World Health Organization has reached after years of research, that good health supports successful learning, and successful learning supports health, and in fact, research has proven the strong relationship between good health, academic achievement, and positive educational outcomes.”

At the end of the ceremony, the schools that won the Health Promoting Schools Initiative were honored. The first place went to Hamasa School for Basic Education (1-4) from Al Buraimi Governorate, while the second place went to Laila bint Hakeem School for Basic Education (1-12) from Al ADhahirah Governorate and the third place went for Hafsa bint Sirin Basic Education School (5-9) from Al Buraimi Governorate. The prizes are projects that serve one of the components of the Health Promoting Schools Initiative, which will be presented by the winning schools and will be implemented in cooperation between the Directorate-General of Education in the governorates, Al Jisr Foundation for Charitable Work, and the Oman Oil Marketing Company.