Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan unveils NCERT comic book on health and wellness

NEW DELHI: Union education, and skill development and entrepreneurship minister Dharmendra Pradhan today launched a novel comic book ‘Let’s move forward’ at Kaushal Bhawan, New Delhi.

The comic book is a collaborative effort between the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and UNESCO. It signifies a significant stride towards augmenting the goals of the School Health and Wellness Programme (SHWP), which was initiated under the Ayushman Bharat campaign in April ,2018 by the prime minister.

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The comic book is designed to cater to the adolescents and encapsulates crucial information pertaining to the 11 thematic components of the SHWP. The subjects covered includes, emotional well-being, interpersonal relationships, gender equality, nutrition and health, substance abuse prevention, healthy lifestyles, reproductive health, internet safety, and more.

It is accessible in multiple languages, including Hindi, English, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odiya, Tamil, and Telugu. The book will be distributed across various educational and health institutions nationwide through state school education departments, colleges of teacher education, institutes of advanced study in education (IASEs), district institutes of education and training (DIETs), block institutes of teacher education (BITEs), and state health departments. Additionally, the comic books will be disseminated to the 29,000 schools affiliated with the CBSE, thereby expanding its outreach. An electronic version of the comic book will also be accessible on the Ministry of Education (MoE), NCERT, UNESCO, and DIKSHA websites.

The secretary of the school education and literacy, Sanjay Kumar; the secretary of the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship, Atul Kumar Tiwari; the director of the NCERT, Dinesh Prasad Saklani; and officials of the ministry of education and UNESCO were also present at the event.

Stressing on the importance of story-telling, Pradhan said the NCERT book will motivate students to prioritise holistic well-being while entertaining them through storytelling, with key focus on good health and wellness. He added that more such comic books will be developed in future.

He emphasised on the importance of the partnership with UNESCO, especially during India’s G20 presidency. He urged UNESCO to disseminate Indian stories so that it benefits not only the youth of the country but that of the entire world. 'Explore, experiment and experience' are going to be of great significance, he said.