Commemorating Teachers’ Week with health talk and walk |03 October 2023
Celebrating the end of the walk at the Roche Caiman fitness trail
A health talk focusing on empowering schools and organisations to create a workplace wellbeing programme, followed by a walk at the Roche Caiman fitness trail were two activities held yesterday as part of this year’s Teachers’ Week.
Both events were organised by the education ministry in collaboration with the health ministry.
The health talk for teachers, which took place in the afternoon at the STC conference room, was in the presence of the principal secretary for educational services, Merna Eulentin; principal secretary for education development sector, John Lesperance; the director for family health programmes, Vereine Louis-Marie; youth health programme manager, Stephanie Charlette; and senior health promotion officer and workplace wellbeing programme coordinator, Joel Edmond.
In her opening remarks, PS Merna Eulentin explained that the aim of the talk was to raise awareness about the significance of physical and mental health in their professions.
“By focusing on self-care we can better serve our students and ourselves. In this fast paced world we often find ourselves engrossed in the pursuit of professional success, racing against deadlines and striving to reach new heights in our careers”.
She said that while these aspirations are commendable, they cannot forget the fundamental cornerstone that sustains their journey, which is health and wellbeing.
“Our physical and mental healths are the bedrocks upon which we build our dreams and aspirations. Just as a house needs a strong foundation to stand tall, we also need a healthy mind and body to excel in our careers and live fulfilling lives. Neglecting our health not only jeopardizes our personal happiness but also impacts on our professional performance,” said PS Eulentin.
In addition, she stated that by prioritising their wellbeing, they could unlock a multitude of benefits. “A healthy and happy workforce will not only be more productive but also it fosters a positive working environment. Additionally it encourages creativity team work and resilience, it also leads to employees being fully engaged driving the growth and success of our organisation,” said PS Eulentin.
Speaking to Seychelles NATION, the director for health and safety at the Ministry of Education, Regina Prosper, explained that staff wellbeing was primordial and they started the programme by conducting a training in screening for staff at the ministry’s headquarters before branching out to other schools and professional centres.
“Today, the next phase is for the primary and secondary schools. It is to empower them to create a wellbeing committee or club whereby they could receive training in simple health care practices such as testing hypertension, with the help of the Ministry of Health,” explained Ms Prosper.
After over an hour of talk, the team then got down to action by marching all the way to the Roche Caiman fitness trail, as a way of promoting healthy living through exercise.
Several other activities are planned for Teachers’ Week including blood donation, today’s launch of the Continuous Professional Development Programme, and Teachers’ Award ceremony.
The one-week celebration is being held under the theme ‘The Transformation of Education Begins with Teachers’.
Text & photos by Neil Sirame
