Mental health app, forest programme among finalists at AIA Healthiest Schools Competition
- Ying Wa Primary School was the only finalist from Hong Kong; top prize went to Malaysian school that made an app to address student stress
The competition’s ambassador, Melati Wijsen, has praised the Hong Kong team for their unique forest programme aimed at connecting pupils to a greener future. Photo: Kelly FungAt a regional student competition about promoting healthy living, Hong Kong’s representative, Ying Wa Primary School, came close to claiming the top prize.
The champion of the AIA Healthiest Schools Competition was awarded to a Malaysian primary school, which had designed a mental health app to address the alarming levels of stress among its students.
Ying Wa Primary School was the only Hong Kong school to make it as one of the six finalists shortlisted for the regional competition, which attracted more than 2,370 primary and secondary schools across Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The competition’s ambassador, Melati Wijsen, a 23-year-old changemaker from Bali, praised the Hong Kong team for their unique forest programme aimed at connecting students to a more sustainable future.
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The programme’s goal is to take learning outdoors, facilitate active lifestyles and improve students’ mental well-being. The school in Cheung Sha Wan has redesigned its General Studies curriculum across all year groups to include the forest programme.
“One of the things that stood out to me was that they made it mandatory within the school curriculum,” said Wijsen in an interview at the award ceremony held in Bali in July.
“It’s a hands-on, tangible project that brings awareness of the natural world back into the classroom. And I’m a big fan of that because, sometimes, I feel like classrooms don’t allow students to connect with nature.”
At Ying Wa Primary School, students can join 115 outdoor learning activities offered by the school every year, in addition to online and classroom learning on topics around conservation and the environment. The school aims to make the forest programme a key part of the curriculum and a model for other educators.
Students and teachers at the winning school, SK Putrajaya Presint 11(1) in Malaysia, developed a wellness app called HELPIE. Featuring games, a health survey, stress measurement tools, and health campaigns, the project’s goal is to help students become more aware of their stress levels and emotions.
“This award is proof of our hard work and making our school the healthiest in our state and our country,” said Mohd Saharudin bin Setapa, a teacher and project leader for HELPIE. “We hope that in the future we can share the impact of the project, not only in Malaysia but also to other countries.”
The school observed pupils’ difficulties in adapting to the classroom and transitioning into adolescence. A survey conducted by the school’s counsellors found that 34 per cent of Year One to Year Six students experienced stress, and 47 per cent had trouble identifying their emotions. Students were worrying about homework, struggling with peer relationships, and feeling isolated.
“One of the concerns in this school is mental health ... Some of the students have problems in identifying their own emotions, unable to talk freely with their friends. They feel troubled when they are in class,” the teacher noted.
The winning school will receive a total of US$100,000 (HK$780,756) in prize money to accelerate the impact of their health and well-being initiatives.
The AIA Healthiest Schools competition, launched in 2022 by the AIA Group, is part of the company’s efforts to encourage healthy eating, active lifestyles, mental well-being, and sustainability among students aged five to 16 across Asia.
Wijsen, who described herself as a “full-time changemaker”, emphasised that change could start in the classroom.
“How can we change the classrooms to reflect more what’s happening in the real world, to make us a better and more active stakeholder in what happens with the world we live in? That’s what is going to be taking up my to-do list,” she said.
In 2020, she founded Youthtopia, a platform offering free masterclasses, mentorship and funding to support young people in creating change in the world.
While change does not happen overnight, Wijsen encouraged teenagers to work together as a team – “find your tribe” and “have fun”.
“It reminds us that yes, we’re serious about change, but also driven by a lot of joy for the natural world, for community.”
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Stuart A. Spencer, AIA Group Chief Marketing Officer, highlighted the severe impact of “lifestyle disease”, which describes medical conditions that are the result of someone’s daily habits. This can cause severe harm to people’s physical and mental well-being.
“‘Lifestyle disease’ is an epidemic and I say that Asia is becoming wealthier but not healthier,” he explained.
He noted the AIA Healthiest Schools competition’s mission is to “foster impactful, sustainable behaviour change for healthier living” and added that the programme will expand to the Philippines and Sri Lanka next year.
“We’re proud of how the competition is scaling and empowering the next generation to make healthy choices and drive meaningful change in communities across Asia.”