Country’s first health education centre for school kids to come up in Chandigarh by March-end

After missing two deadlines in December and February, the Chandigarh Health Education Centre (CHEC) is now likely to be ready by the end of March, before the new academic session gets underway.

A first-of-its-kind initiative at a government school in the country, the centre is being set up at Government Model High School, Sector 22, in partnership with the Chandigarh Rotary Club, to impart health education to students of city’s government schools.

The focus of the centre will be on general health, oral health, nutrition/physical activity, drug/alcohol/tobacco prevention, pregnancy/STI prevention, and social and emotional health.

Speaking about the delay in its launch, UT director school education Harsuhinderpal Singh Brar said the delay was due to acquiring exhibits for the centre. “The exhibits have started arriving and we are confident we will be able to open the centre by the end of the month,” he added.

The department has to finish the project by the end of the academic year to enable submission of a report to the central government.

The education department had pitched CHEC as an “innovative project” with the Centre in the project approval board meeting of Samagra Shiksha Scheme 2024, chaired by the Union education secretary.

The central government had approved ₹50 lakh initially, with an understanding that an additional ₹1.2 crore will be considered for the next year based on recommendation by senior officers who visit the completed project. It was also conveyed that such a project has the potential of being replicated across the country, therefore the UT administration must ensure that the project is developed and made functional within the same financial year.

In the works since 2017

The project was conceived in 2017, when Rotary International Chandigarh had submitted a proposal for establishment of CHEC. After the UT administrator’s approval, Dr Atul Sachdev, then head of department of general medicine at GMCH, Sector 32, and Dr JS Thakur from Rotary Club had visited Education Health Centres in USA. Subsequently, they submitted a report, recommending a Health Education Centre in Chandigarh on the lines of McMillan Center in USA.

As per the proposal, the facility should be able to impart health education to at least 1.5 lakh students of government schools every year initially. It should have at least six high-class dedicated teaching rooms with a capacity of 75 students each and an auditorium with a capacity of 150 students. All students will visit this centre at least once a year.

As per the proposal, Rotary Club will provide exhibits, including latest holographic models and technologies, estimated to cost around ₹1 crore.