Why a National Healthy Schools Day?

Karen RobinsonHealthy Schools Day Parliamentary and Legislature Statements
  • Many schools have problems linked to indoor air quality.
  •  Children are more vulnerable to environmental hazards.
  •  Children spend an average of 30 to 50 hours per week in school.
  •  Staff spend even more time in their school workplaces.
  •  Poor indoor environmental quality is associated with a wide rage of problems that include respiratory illnesses and poor concentration leading to poor learning. Athletes need clean air in order to achieve their best and so do students!
  •  Asthma studies show up to 13% and in some areas 17% of school age children have asthma, the leading cause of school absenteeism, accounting for thousands of missed school days each year, and high costs to the medical system.
  •  There is no longer any doubt. Many studies have found positive health impacts from improved indoor air quality.
  •  Children attending schools in good condition score 5 to 10 percent higher on standardized tests than students who attend schools in poor condition.
  •  Studies show that resources put into improving indoor environment quality have a rapid pay back.
  •  Our Country’s school boards commonly make very difficult decisions between cutting back much-needed academic programs vs. cutting back on needed building maintenance.
  •  Healthy new and existing schools provide cleaner air, improved lighting, and reduced exposures to toxic substances, and provide a healthier and safer learning environment for children, and improved academic achievement and well-being.
  •  Federal and provincial governments have demonstrated interest in this important issue by developing programs like the Tools for Schools IAQ Action Kit, creating data, information and conferences on school IAQ; and are working to provide healthier schools every day. Use the Kit in your school!
  •  Our schools have the great responsibility of guiding the future of our children.  Our children are our country’s greatest resource.

Projects don’t have to be held on the exact day.

They can be an ongoing project(s) or take some other form.

They just need to be designated as a Healthy Schools Day project to mark or draw attention to Healthy Schools Day in Canada – journée des écoles saines du Canada.

Background

Twelve national and provincial organizations met on March 12, 2009 to declare a national Healthy Schools Day in Canada to focus on school indoor environment issues such as air quality. Since then, over 35 organizations have given their support.

The purpose of the day is to foster improvements, celebrate successes, and create projects that make indoor environments of new and existing schools the best they can be.

Every year, Healthy Schools Day in Canada (HSD) will give citizens, students, teachers, organizations, school boards, and all Canadians, a time to focus on school buildings’ indoor environment quality to benefit the health and learning ability of our country’s school children, and protect the health of workers in Canadian schools.

CASLE (Canadians for A Safe Learning Environment) was the organizer of Healthy Schools Day in 2009 and coordinated the Day until 2017. Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health & Environment (CPCHE) is coordinating Healthy Schools Day now and we encourage all to continue participating in this important event.