COVID-19: DHA and KHDA join hands to offer safety tips to Dubai pupils

Dubai: Dubai Health Authority (DHA), in collaboration with the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) of Dubai, started school a health awareness campaign today to educate primary and secondary school children across private schools in Dubai about COVID-19. The one-month campaign aims to empower pupils and provide them with health tips so that they can take care of their health and well-being.

In the first phase, officials from the Public Health Protection Department at DHA will visit eight private schools in Dubai. At a later stage, the campaign will take place across more schools — both in-person and virtually.

Dr Hend Al Awadhi, Head of Health Promotion and Education Section at DHA’s Public Health Protection Department said: “The staff that will enter the school will undergo all health and safety precautions to ensure the highest level of safety standards. While schools have adopted stringent precautionary measures to reduce the possibility of transmitting infection among students and to provide a safe and healthy educational environment, it is also important to educate students so that they are empowered to take care of themselves. We have planned the lectures in an interactive and educational manner so that children can participate and are engaged.”

Children across primary schools will be educated on COVID-19 through interactive methods such as quizzes and puzzles, while students in secondary schools will be briefed more in detail about daily sanitisation procedures and routines once they return home, school-bus health safety tips and ways to boost immunity.

Dr Al Awadhi pointed out that parents play a pivotal role in helping maintain health and safety standards. “Both students and parents must adopt internationally recommended safety measures at school and after school as well,” she emphasised.