The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Regional Office for South Asia and the Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Bhubaneswar, under the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), Ministry of Education, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to integrate health and well-being in the pre-service teacher education system.
The collaboration builds on UNESCO’s partnership with the Government of India under the School Health and Wellness Programme (SHWP), a flagship initiative of the Ministries of Education and Health under Ayushman Bharat. As a member of the National Resource Group, UNESCO provides technical expertise to strengthen and expand the programme. It draws on global frameworks on sexuality education, health-promoting schools, and promotion of safe and inclusive learning environments. Since 2020, UNESCO has been actively supporting the implementation of School Health and Wellness Programme across 30,000 CBSE-affiliated schools. In partnership with CBSE and NCERT, UNESCO has trained over 960 Principals and 40,000 teachers through Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes and reached more than 3 million learners.
The two-year collaboration formalizes on-going efforts to integrate health and well-being into Integrated B.Sc.-B.Ed., B.A.-B.Ed., and B.Ed. programmes through RIE Bhubaneswar. By extending this effort to pre-service teacher education, the UNESCO–RIE Bhubaneswar partnership aims to equip future teachers with the empathy, resilience, and skills needed to foster safe, inclusive, and health-promoting classrooms through the following key objectives:
- Curriculum Development: To develop and integrate curricular content on health and well-being into pre-service teacher education programmes.
- Teacher Preparation: To jointly implement projects that equip future educators with empathy, resilience, and critical life skills, enabling them to create safe, inclusive, and supportive learning spaces that enhance both education and well-being.
The collaboration directly contributes to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 4 (Quality Education), and 5 (Gender Equality).
As part of the collaboration, UNESCO will support the development of a Health and Well-being Handbook for teacher educators also serving as a reference for prospective teachers. RIE Bhubaneswar will lead the integration of health and well-being into existing teacher education curricula, starting with few teacher education intuitions.
Prof. P C Agarwal, Joint Director, NCERT appreciated UNESCO’s contribution through the School Health and Wellness Programme in the country. “The four-year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) envisions the creation of well-equipped teachers capable of designing and implementing developmentally appropriate learning experiences for students at different stages of school education. The ITEP seeks to ensure that the prospective teachers are given the highest quality education in content, pedagogy, values, and practice. Health and well-being are very important in curricular components of ITEP. This MoU marks a milestone in our shared vision to promote health and well-being as an integral part of education, and we place our full confidence in this partnership”, Prof.Agarwal said.
“At this stage, our collaboration has thus far been focused at the National level and we are excited to work with RIE Bhubaneswar to bring concrete action at the State level. Today’s partnership with RIE Bhubaneswar prepares future teachers in Odisha not only to deliver academic content, but to cultivate resilient, compassionate, and well- rounded learners. We hope to expand our work into other states in the near future.” remarked Tim Curtis, Director and Representative, UNESCO Regional Office for South Asia
“This MoU is the first of its kind for RIE Bhubaneswar, and we are deeply committed to advancing this programme on health and wellbeing. We look forward to UNESCO’s support and partnership in strengthening and reforming pre-service teacher education to align with this broader vision of holistic education” said Prof. Manasi Goswami, Principal, RIE NCERT, Bhubaneswar.
This initiative reinforces the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) 2023, which identify life skills, health, and well-being as integral to quality education. It also aligns with NITI Aayog’s ongoing efforts to strengthen and mainstream school health and wellness initiatives under Ayushman Bharat, with a particular focus on mental health and well-being.
Moving forward, the partnership will facilitate training workshops for teacher educators, enabling them to pilot and deliver health and well-being content within pre-service teacher education programmes. Following successful implementation, UNESCO will engage with the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to advocate for the nationwide integration of health and well-being across teacher education curricula ensuring that this initiative contributes to systemic and sustainable reform.
During the MoU signing ceremony Prof.H.K.Senapaty, Chairperson MoU Committee of RIE,Bhubaneswar, Joyce Poan,Programme Specialist and Chief of Education, UNESCO, South Asia, New Delhi, Prof.Saroj Bala Yadav, Former Dean (Academic),NCERT, Ms Sarita Jadav, National Programme Officer, UNESCO, New Delhi, Prof.Laxmidhar Behera, Convenor MoU Committee, RIE Bhubaneswar and UNESCO officials were present.
