The Department of Health and the Ministry of Education began to work together for preparing a "School Health Promotion Project" in 2002 and promote it in 2004. By 2009, in participated action, guided support systems, teaching resources and training, or connection and sharing with other countries, all had collected abundant results, including:
In participated action:
- 1. Schools applying for HPS had grown sharply to 2079 in 2007 from over 400 in 2005. From 2008, every elementary school and junior high school in every city and county has joined the lineup of HPSs.
- 2. In 2005, most city/county bureaus of education were passive. After 2007, over 75% of them in Taiwan's 25 cities and counties were responsive and active. A local consulting team mechanism was built and operated autonomically.
- 3. A good number of health-promoting issue centers and seed schools took part enthusiastically. They demonstrated various health actions and continued to change results through evidence-based material.
In guided support system:
- 1. Relevant support systems already had functioned considerably. For example, in guided support network system, a 98-person central consulting team mainly consisting of college teachers, excellent HPS-promoting principals and directors, etc. And an adoption-guidance function was developed in local schools.
- 2. A local consulting team in each city/county was set up, consisting of central issue school principals, supervisors or higher personnel of education bureaus, compulsory education consulting team members, school nurses, parent representatives, as well as other expert teams. Local resources were gathered to work for a sustainable HPS action.
In teaching resources and training:
- 1.In respect of teaching material, all relevant teaching material has been developed, including HPS guidance manual series – counselor's manual, school action schemes, 6 main health issues & tobacco control, betel nuts control, and HPS storybooks.
- 2.A supportive digital learning platform has been established, and visitors to it have surpassed one million.
- 3.In respect of education and training, each year a number of distinguishing empowerment workshops and observation tours are held. The purpose is to enhance understanding of relevant guidance and practical project promoters towards HPS concept and execution strategies.
In international cooperation:
- 1.At the IUHPE 2010 held in Geneva, Taiwan presented a number of HPS related articles.
In addition, achievements from HPS across Taiwan (see appendix 1-1 for HPS achievements by schools in 2008) can already be presented to the world. They covered interschool alliances, local team self-empowerment mechanism, student quantification indicators, establishment of city/county resources centers, support of local government policy, etc.
The HPS initiative has been promoted for 3 years and an abundance of achievements have been obtained. But if we want the HPS seed to take root, sprout, grow strong, and propagate sustainably, in addition to maintaining operation of past relevant resources, we will have to create a single nationwide HPS assessment mechanism. And we also will have to lead schools at all levels to push ahead with HPS and present achievements to the world.
Important implementation principles for promoting the Ministry of Education's 2nd HPS for this year's projects:
- 1. To effectively operate bottom up and top down and continue to keep the communication with different public and private agencies unobstructed. To build a "top down, bottom up, right-left, and left-right" longitudinal and lateral mutual trust, support, guiding, negotiation, evaluation mechanism.
- 2. Having adequate policy leading power interventing and policy support to draft annual highlights and administrative policy.
- 3. Program policy needs to set short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals.
- 4. Value full participation from the central government and local governments.
- 5. Implementation process and results are evidence-based.
- 6. Operation of network support from integration of lateral link and cross-organization system resources.
- 7. Advance strategy is complex: gathering data, utilizing resources, evaluating indicators.
- 8. To measure and create changing-effects: create indicators and assessment mechanisms.