There is a growing understanding of the interactions between education and health, as healthy learners learn better and better educated learners have the skills to be healthy. At the World Education forum in 2000, UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank jointly launched the FRESH (Focusing Resources on Effective School Health) Initiative. The FRESH Framework is a starting point for developing effective school health policies, programmes and services. It consists of four pillars:
- Health-related school policies
- Safe learning environment
- Skills-based health education
- School-based health and nutrition services
Although much has been achieved since 2000 there is much more to be done for sustainable, inclusive and equitable access to quality education and school health programmes. At this year's World Education Forum, the Coordinating Group of the FRESH partners will be launching a new paper, FRESH - School Health Matters Beyond 2015, to maintain the momentum for the importance of school health on the international agenda.
A call to Action
As part of the World Education Forum 2015 follow-up, this paper advocates that:
- A concern for health needs to be part of a broader view of the purposes of education that recognizes that the whole child, not just their intellect, is fundamental to their learning.
- Students need to learn the skill, knowledge, norms, attitudes and coping mechanisms that are essential to their success at school and in life.
- School health needs to be mainstreamed in budgeted education sector plans.
Strengthening the links between education and health will be the focus of a UNESCO-UNFPA organized session at the World Education Forum on Wednesday 20 May entitled Healthy bodies, bright minds: health, HIV and sexuality education, with speakers from Ministries of Education in Argentina, Nepal and Zambia, the YWCA and the GEFI Youth Advisory Group.
FRESH partners include: UNESCO, the Partnership for Child Development, World Bank, WHO, WFP, UNICEF, UNODC, Save the Children, AIR, GIZ, Education International, Japan Consortium for Global School Health Research, International School Health Network.