The visual arts is viewed as one of the effective educational methods to engage the attention and interest of students in understanding health and social issues.

Deputy Dean (Student and Network) Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Kubang Kerian, Professor Dinsuhaimi Sidek said the finding was derived from feedback received by the Silent Teacher Project, initiated at the Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Kok Keli here two years ago.

He said the project used visual approach (murals) to teach health education to youngsters on issues such as drug addiction, smoking, 'merempit' (illegal racing), social etiquette and road safety.

"From the survey conducted on students, there was increased understanding of current issues to 76 per cent as compared to 50 per cent before the health-related mural project was implemented at the school.

"Following the success of the project, it was expanded to four schools in Tumpat district since May last year, namely SK Tumpat, SK Pengkalan Kubor 1, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Kutan and SMK Berangan," Dinsuhaimi told reporters at the official launch of the Silent Teacher Project at SMK Berangan here today.

He said the Silent Teacher Project was a community engagement programme between USM and Universiti Malaysia Kelantan through a RM30,000 grant from University Community Transformation Centre, with support from the education ministry.

Dinsuhaimi added it was also a continuation of the USM Industry and Community Network grant previously known as USM HEART (Health Engagement Throught Art) at SK Kok Keli, Tumpat in 2014.

He said project questionnaires on adolescent-related issues were distributed to students before and after the murals were produced to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme.

"Based on the positive impact received, we plan to expand this project to more schools in the future." - BERNAMA