Post Secondary Education Institutions Pledge Support For Health Promoting Schools Framework

Singapore, 26 July 2012: To encourage every educational institution to set healthy practices, the 3rd Joint HPB-MOE CHERISH Award will include representation from preschools and Post-Secondary Education Institutions (PSEIs) for the first time.

2. CHERISH Junior, the health promoting framework for pre-schools, was officially launched by HPB in May 2012, while the Healthy Campus initiative was introduced to PSEIs last year.

3. The latter follows the introduction of HPB’s Healthy Campus Handbook, which was developed based on recommendations by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Presenting five areas of intervention – Organisation Structure, Environment Support, Academic Development, Community Partnerships and Workplace Health – this initiative seeks to encourage and spur health promotion efforts within the campuses.

4. According to HPB’s Student Health Survey, about 20 per cent of students between 13 and 18 years old were engaging in at least four unhealthy behaviours that would put them at risk of developing chronic diseases later in life.

5. These risk behaviours include unhealthy practices related to smoking, lack of physical activity, poor mental health as well as unbalanced diets such as under or over consumption of fruits and vegetables, sugar and fried food. 

6. To encourage schools to create the right environment for developing healthy lifestyle habits among not just students but also staff, parents and the community, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) and Ministry of Education (MOE) introduced the Joint HPB-MOE CHERISH Award in 2008.

7. An acronym for CHampioning Efforts Resulting in Improved School Health, CHERISH is a holistic framework adapted from the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Health Promoting Schools Framework, which advocates a learning environment that provides students with an integrated health-conscious experience.

8. Whether for students, teachers, parents or the community, health promotion programmes may be conducted to address health issues such as physical activity, smoking control, nutrition and mental well-being.

9. This year, two schools received the Platinum CHERISH Award, 16 received the Gold Award, 167 received the Silver Award and 126 received the Bronze Award. At the same time, 94 pre-schools also received the inaugural CHERISH Junior Award.

10. Junior Colleges/Centralised Institutes, Secondary and Primary Schools are assessed by an HPB-MOE evaluation panel on the sustainability and impact of their health promotion efforts. The five main criteria are:

• School organisation, ethos and environment

• Curriculum, teaching and learning

• Partnerships and services

• Evaluation

• Challenges and future plans

11. Said Mr Ang Hak Seng, Chief Executive Officer, HPB: “About 20 per cent of schoolgoing Singaporeans between 13 and 18 engage in at least four unhealthy lifestyle behaviours that will increase the risks of chronic diseases later in life. We want to change this trend, which is why HPB introduced the CHERISH Junior Award this year and the Healthy Campus Handbook last year – the CHERISH Junior programme brings health promotion upstream to pre-schools, nurturing lifelong healthy habits in very young children, while the Healthy Campus initiative moves health promotion downstream by reinforcing these habits among our youths.” 

12. Presenting the Awards at the event, Mr Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Education said: “A health promoting school is one that takes an integrated approach to promoting good health. This is done in several ways: teaching through formal and informal health curricula; providing a safe, healthy and friendly school setting; providing appropriate health services; and involving the family and the wider community in health promotion efforts. All these are key elements of the Joint HPB-MOE CHERISH Award.”

13. Leveraging the CHERISH programme, HPB aims to have every pre-school, primary school, secondary school and PSEI become a Health Promoting School.

ANNEX A: JOINT HPB-MOE CHERISH AWARD 2012
ANNEX B: JOINT HPB-MOE CHERISH AWARD 2012 RESULTS
ANNEX C: HPB CHERISH JUNIOR AWARD 2012 RESULTS
ANNEX D: LIST OF EXEMPLARY SCHOOLS

Issued by Health Promotion Board

Media Release

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