Ministry of Education and UNESCO launches comic book to promote health, wellness of adolescents
New Delhi, India: The Ministry of Education and UNESCO on Tuesday launched an innovative comic book aimed at enhancing the health and well-being of school-going children across the nation.
The comic book, titled "Let's Move Forward," was officially released by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in a special ceremony held at Kaushal Bhawan in New Delhi.
The event was graced by senior government officials, policymakers, institutions under the Ministry of Education, UN Agencies, and other partners.
The comic book developed jointly by NCERT and UNESCO New Delhi will serve as a useful resource to promote health and wellness of school-going children in an engaging and relatable format.
Through captivating narratives and interesting characters, it covers a wide range of topics namely, growing up healthy; emotional well-being and mental health; interpersonal relationships; values and citizenship; gender equality; nutrition, health and sanitation; prevention and management of substance abuse; promotion of healthy lifestyles; reproductive health and HIV prevention; safety and security against violence and injuries; promotion of internet safety and responsible social media behaviour.
The comic book has been designed to be an interactive and educational tool to complement the implementation of the School Health and Wellness Programme under Ayushman Bharat. To ensure easy accessibility and wider dissemination among learners across the country, the comic book is available in print as well as digital formats in Hindi, English, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odiya, Tamil and Telegu.
During the launch event, Pradhan emphasized the importance of a holistic approach to education, stating, "Our goal is to empower our adolescents with the knowledge and skills they need to lead healthy and fulfilling lives. This comic book is a testament to our commitment to their well-being and reflects our dedication to providing education that goes beyond textbooks."
The Union Minister told the media that today, with the efforts of both NCERT and UNESCO, the goals set in the NEP are to give learning experiences to the children like stories, songs. This comic book 'let's move Forward' is an initiative in this series.
They decided that at the beginning of the series, children's awareness about health, the environment should be increased, that's why this comic book was created, especially when children grow up, they are teenagers that time there is a lot of curiosity, their curiosity also increases day by day so in that curiosity is related to health, in this regard, this book has been prepared in an interesting way.
Benno Boer, Officer-in-Charge and Chief of Natural Sciences at UNESCO New Delhi, in his welcome address said, "We believe that children and young people must have access to safe, inclusive, and health-promoting learning environments, and this is one of UNESCO'S important strategic education priorities."
"UNESCO is honoured to collaborate with the Ministry of Education in launching this comic book which aims to not only promote awareness and knowledge among adolescents on health and wellness, but also make it a fundamental part of daily life," he added.
