More than 4,500 teachers from all over the country gathered on Saturday, September 30, in Chisinau, to participate in the „ Teacher of the Year 2023” Awards Gala, organized by the Ministry of Education and Research. The event also included a fair of educational opportunities for teachers. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) team was present at this fair with a series of educational resources in the field of health education and life skills for general and vocational-technical education, developed in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Research.

These include: textbooks, materials for Health Education and Biology General Education courses, teacher support for the Healthy Lifestyle Decisions course, Vocational Technical Peer Educator's Guide, the interactive game „Without Taboo”, informative posters about the courses „Decisions for a healthy lifestyle” and „Health Education”, etc.

Youth from Peer-to-Peer Network of Educators from Vocational-Technical Education Schools were also present at the event. The young people invited teachers to answer the questions of the „Without Taboo” game. This is an educational and interactive game developed by UNFPA Moldova for teenagers and young people over the age of 15. The educators encouraged the teachers to propose the online version of this game to their students.

Maria Bogdan, a teacher at the „Vasile Lupu" Pedagogical College in Orhei has been teaching the „Decisions for a Healthy Lifestyle” course for 13 years already. „At our college, we have been using some of these resources for several years, and during all this time, it has been confirmed to me how much students need the information provided in this course, especially the students in the first year. The auxiliary materials, for example the „No Taboo” game helps us discuss sensitive topics with the students, which they are not open to discuss with adults”, the teacher confessed.

UNFPA in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Research, educational institutions and civil society continuously invests in programs to develop health education and life skills of general and professional technical students.

Thanks to UNFPA support, the quality of health education programs taught in schools has improved significantly in recent years. Today, the contents of the health education programs, which refer to mental health, prevention of violence and bullying, sexual and reproductive health, etc., correspond to 54% of the international UN standards in this field. For comparison, this indicator was only 32% in 2017 (Source: SERAT Analysis).

UNFPA also trains teachers to help them deliver health education messages in an accessible and youth-friendly way, while providing them with supporting teaching materials.

Along with supporting the quality of education, both in general and vocational schools, UNFPA invests in educational infrastructure. So far, 13 friendly classrooms have been set up in 12 colleges, centers of excellence and vocational schools, with similar investments to follow on national level. Efforts are also being made to promote menstrual hygiene in schools, including piloting an initiative to provide free sanitary pads to school girls.

The United Nations Population Fund together with the Ministry of Education and Research and other partners invests in the integration of health education subjects and the creation of life skills for students, by developing teaching materials for students and teachers, supporting and equipping schools with friendly spaces, as well as equipment that favors the well-being of students in general and professional technical education.