Photo credits: Ianthonie Andrianiaina
In the presence of Mr. Jery Andrianilanona, Director of Basic Education and Early Childhood, CM1 and CM2 level teachers from public elementary schools of Antananarivo and its southern suburbs were brought together to be trained in the use of the health education kits developed by the Mérieux Foundation.
These educational kits aim to protect children and their families from disease by teaching them good hygiene, nutrition and sexual health practices while having fun. “If the students’ bodies are healthy, their minds will be receptive to learning,” says the Director of Basic Education and Early Childhood. At the end of the three-day training, more than 1,014 teachers will be able to use them with their students.
This operation takes place within the framework of the agreement signed in January 2020 with the Ministry of National Education, Technical and Vocational Education of Madagascar for the promotion of health in all public schools of Madagascar. In February, a first phase of deployment was carried out in schools in the northern suburbs of Antananarivo. The project was then discontinued following measures to combat the COVID-19 epidemic in the country.
Protect your health while having fun
Photo credits: Ianthonie Andrianiaina
These health education kits are interactive educational tools developed to promote the learning of simple habits to protect children and their families against infectious diseases and reduce the risk of infant mortality. They are designed to give an active role to the child and provoke exchange; the child behaving as an ambassador of good practices to be adopted with his or her entourage.
They are available in French and Malagasy, in paper and digital versions to reach the largest number of children on the Big Island.
To date, the existing kits address major health topics such as WASH (acronym for water, sanitation and hygiene) and general hygiene, infectious diseases and nutrition.
The kits are the result of a collaboration between the Mérieux Foundation, the authorities and associations of Madagascar. The local associations Graines de bitume, ACCESMAD, Moringa Wave and Tanora Garan’Teen contribute to the evaluation and implementation of the kits. The scientific content is validated by the Malagasy expert structures of the ministries concerned: the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of National Education, Technical and Vocational Education (MENETP), the Ministry of Water, Hygiene and Hydrocarbons, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Office of Nutrition. Each new kit is launched at the Charles Mérieux Center for Infectious Disease in Madagascar and the Mérieux Foundation team trains the facilitators and educators in conjunction with the ministries concerned. The Fondation Christophe and Rodolphe Mérieux financed the development of the kits with additional funding for the WASH kit from Fondation AnBer.