Queen Rania honours ‘healthy schools’

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Wednesday honoured schools accredited by the Royal Health Awareness Society’s (RHAS) Healthy Schools Programme.

At a ceremony at the King Hussein Business Park, Queen Rania presented 43 certificates of accreditation to the winning schools, of which four were gold accreditation certificates, 17 silver and 22 bronze.

Her Majesty, along with several officials, principals and teachers, watched a short video about the programme’s achievements so far. 

Speaking at the ceremony, RHAS Director Enaam Barishi said that the society has strived over the past few years to improve health standards in schools in Jordan as it strongly believes in every child’s right to get an education in a healthy and safe environment.

She added that over 500 schools have benefited from the programme as well as more than 100,000 students. 

Barishi stressed the key role stakeholders play in the success of the initiative, noting that public-private cooperation is crucial to achieve results. 

Organised in partnership with the ministries of health and education, the Healthy Schools Accreditation Programme aims to promote healthy practices in schools and their surrounding communities to positively affect students’ physical and social health as well as their academic performance.

On the sidelines of the event, Queen Rania toured an exhibition held by participating schools to showcase the different health-related initiatives they have successfully implemented with the help of students and parents. 

During her tour of the exhibition, which was divided into three sections representing sports, nutrition and health, Queen Rania listened to principals and teachers who explained how these different initiatives helped improve their schools’ environment.

The Healthy Schools Programme is a national initiative that introduces standards for healthy school environments, thereby developing healthy lifestyles and eating habits among children and adolescents to prepare them for healthy adulthood, according to a statement from Her Majesty’s office.

These standards were evaluated and approved by the World Health Organisation in June 2007 and include: leadership and management, school environment and health safety, health awareness, effectiveness of the workers and teachers in school, community participation, health services provided to students, counselling services, and psychological health, sports and nutrition.