Aims of Health Education:
• Value of Health: Health education aims at acquainting the pupils and teachers with the rules of health and hygiene, functioning of the body precautionary measures to ward off diseases; and working for common good.
• Good Health: The authorities should provide hygienic environment in the form of adequate ventilation, proper temperature , good sanitation and all-around cleanliness. It helps the authorities to keep certain norms of health.
• Preventive Measures Health communicable diseases: Its aim is to take adequate precautions against contamination and spread of diseases. Thus good sanitary arrangements are made.
Precautionary and preventive measure, if they are properly adopted, can help in improving the health standards of society.
• Health Service for School Going Children: It aims at discovering physical defects and other abnormalities in the child and promoting their reduction, if they , are easily curable.
• Promotion of Mental and Emotional Health: Mental and emotional health are also equally important along with physical health . While Physical health makes a pupil physical fit, mental and motional health enables him to maintain an even temper and a happy disposition.
• Civic Responsibility: School is a miniature society. Responsibility of ill health does not lie on any one’s shoulders. Even some causes of ill-health have their origin in social conditions which require action on the part of community, as a whole , in order to eradicate them. It aims at realizing the people to make combined efforts and work for common good.
Objectives of Health Education:
• Elementary School Stage
- To make pupils realize the value of health and its personal and social importance.
- To inculcate habits of healthy living, regarding personal hygiene, food, clothing and posture.
• High School Stage
- To make the pupils understand the elementary structure and functioning of human body and the stages of human development.
- To help students to understand the importance of nutritious diet for physical and mental development.
- To help students know how they can save themselves from accidents and from the carriers of disease, like flies, mosquitoes, rats, dirt as well as from polluted air, water and food.
• Higher Secondary (10 to +2) Stage
- To make pupils understand the causes of the pollution of air , water, soil and food as well as the ways and means of their prevention.
- To give students sufficient knowledge about marriage, sex and population explosion.
- To help students understand the importance of physical training , sports, games, yogic exercises as well as their relationship with health education program.
- To emphasize students the bad effects of smoking and taking alcohol.
- To make students know about the functioning of various organizations, working for the maintenance and preservation of health.
- To acquaint students with the functioning of various organizations working for the maintenance of health.
- To help students understand, how the present-day rapid development of science and technology , has increased hazards of life and health problems also how to face and prevent them.
- To enable the students to arrive at suitable conclusions, based on scientific knowledge and take action as an individual, member of the family and the community for protecting, maintain and promoting individual and community health.
- The ultimate objective of health education is to innate healthy habits in the children and develop them into healthy individuals physically as well as mentally.
