On Monday, the Higher Population Council in cooperation with the Ministry of Education held a workshop on reproductive health awareness and its relevant social and religious aspects. This workshop targeted educational supervisors, school counselors, and biology teachers of primary and secondary grades in the Ministry of Education in the Central Region.

Ali Al-Mutlaq, Director of the Studies and Policies Unit at the Higher Population Council, stressed that the workshop aimed at raising the participants’ awareness in the field of reproductive health, for health is dependent on the interaction and balance between the community and individuals’ needs on the one hand and the availability of health resources on the other. Accordingly, AL-Mutlaq pointed out that the focus was directed towards educating the children and youth who are attending schools, and are in the age group (6-18 years) in this area, whereas this category constitutes approximately 20% of the total population and has unmet needs in this regard, in addition to the fact that many of them do not employ the proper methods to obtain information in this regard.

Al-Mutlaq added that this workshop aims at narrowing the gap between the teacher and the student in the field of information communicating methods related to sound reproductive health concepts for primary and secondary level students.

The workshop tackled topics related to the reproductive health of students and the youth and its constraints, the communication mechanisms with this group regarding reproductive health awareness, the mechanisms to improving the community system methods of providing information to students on reproductive health and the religious context in this area, in addition to identifying the current situation of reproductive health and the future aspirations for the Ministry of Education’s curriculum.

The workshop, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, comes as part of the Council's role in providing a supportive environment for the anticipated demographic transition in Jordan and concentrating on reproductive health issues; the Council undertook upon itself the responsibility of raising the partners’ capacity of focusing on positive information and trends relating to the subject of health.