[Report from the conference on "safe and hygienic learning conditions as indispensable elements of elementary...

The conference was organized in Warsaw on the 14th of November 1997, by the Main Section of School Hygiene of the Polish Society of Hygiene. 202 people took part in the conference. They represented following institutions: a sanitary inspection, a health care service, academy institutes, pedagogical institutions, community councils. The purpose of the meeting was to point out and widespread local initiatives and ideas, appearing in various regions of Poland, that concern the following topics: 1: improvement of health conditions in schools, 2) improvement of conditions and realization's methods of increased number of physical training lessons in schools (a gradual increase from 3 hours a week at the present time to 5 in the year 2000), 3) providing actions to minimize the number of accidents among children and adolescents. There were panel discussions concerning the problems mentioned above. Many conclusions were formulated as the result of the discussion, out of which the most important are: ad 1) Maintaining the conditions of proper education demands cooperation between schools' headquarters and community councils and an initiative in seeking allies and sponsors. Examples of the activities of community councils to maintain proper safe and hygienic conditions in education should be propagated. These examples can be applied in another areas. ad 2) There is a dramatic shortage of facilities. Schools try to fulfil the increased requirements by: utilizing elements of natural environment, profiting from the spontaneous activity of children and parents, extending a traditional curriculum offered by new elements of physical culture. Increasing the number of physical training classes gives a chance to create social attitudes during these classes and health behaviour. ad 3) Accident risk in schools should be eliminated by carrying out a systematic many-sided and preventive activity. The coordination of actions should exist on all levels of local and national administration. In schools decisions concerning organizational solutions should be taken up, with the active involvement of headquarters, teachers, administrative workers and parents.