A flagship programme of fshi
Safe School
Introduction
Adolescence is a time of major physical, emotional, and social changes. While many adapt well, some face stress that can lead to mental health issues and risky behaviors like tobacco, alcohol, or digital addiction. The Safe School Project uses a holistic approach to promote healthy behaviors and address varying levels of student needs. By focusing on prevention through education and supportive policies, the project aims to reduce health risks that often begin in youth. In India, rising adolescent health concerns highlight the need for such programs, especially targeting substance abuse to close the preventive gap and support sustainable development goals.
Narayana Health CSR, the Indian Institute of Public Health Bangalore, and the Foundation for Sustainable Health India collaboratively started an initiative to recognize safe schools. Framework criteria for safe schools will be assessed based on a set of questionnaires. The survey data will also be used to advocate a set of recommendations for promoting safe schools in India.
Set Up of the Programme
Inception Phase
Development of an integrated safe school plan comprising packages of survey tools and interventions.
Implementation Phase
Evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of the interventions in the context of the routine safe school program.
Scaling Up Phase
Evaluate the scaling up of these packages of care at the level of individual schools, administrative safe school units (ASUs)/taluks.
These objectives will be addressed with a set of priority interventions in schools that are identified in Anekal and Doddaballapura taluks. We aim to compare experiences of the study settings to enable the safe school project to generate relevant knowledge. The safe school project aims to provide sound evidence on strategies to integrate preventive/promotive care within safe school programs. We use a school life course model approach for developing interventions. By working in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Health, academic institutions, and civil society organizations will make an immediate and long-term impact on a range of beneficiaries, including adolescents and the health research and systems communities.
There has been a little attempt to strengthen the safe schools program in India. However, such attempts are limited when considering the broader Karnataka state or national landscape. Further, some of the current efforts are not comprehensive and are sporadic. This safe school project will act as a guide and blueprint to scale up in wider geographical areas.