The Education & Manpower Bureau has launched a webpage to provide teachers and parents with teaching materials to promote youngsters' health awareness so that they will be on the alert against SARS and other infectious diseases. 

The Chinese-language webpage, entitled "Awareness and pledge to prevent SARS", was designed by the Moral & Civic Education Section of the bureau's Curriculum Development Institute.

Chief Curriculum Development Officer Cheung Wing-hung said that the webpage would encourage teachers to follow up on the "Live Hygiene, Live Health" Pledge Day last September and help students realise their pledges to build clean and hygienic schools.

"In order to step up home-school cooperation in taking preventive measures against infectious diseases, parents are advised to make use of the material available on the webpage to promote children's health awareness and remind them of the importance of personal hygiene," Mr Cheung said.

Webpage includes teaching materials

The webpage includes teaching models, reference materials for teachers, worksheets for students, and advice to parents.

Teachers can refer to the suggested learning activities to cultivate health awareness, civic responsibility and positive personal values among students so that they will improve their hygiene habits, help promote cleanliness in their households and the community, and build a healthy city.

Examples of teaching activities provide topics of discussions relating to students' daily life, such as 'don't eat snacks so often', 'I do exercises every day' and 'I have drawn up a daily activities schedule'.

Schools, teachers can share experiences

Teachers can also draw on the experience of other schools, by using their stories, cartoons and health education plans to design their own activities, he said.

The online reference resources for teachers includes such materials as a handbook on the prevention of SARS spreading in schools and a series of related circulars from the bureau.

Mr Cheung said the webpage also carried a checklist of health habits for the household and family members.

"Parents should maintain close contact with schools and train their children to independently handle matters relating to a healthy lifestyle. This is also a way to step up home-school cooperation in promoting good health," he added.