Consumer health and hygiene company Reckitt has expanded its flagship Dettol Banega Swasth India (BSI) programme to Ladakh, launching the Dettol School Hygiene Education Programme in collaboration with the Directorate of School Education, Ladakh.
The programme was launched at Council Model School, Ayu Saboo, Leh, in the presence of Bhanu Prabha, administrative secretary, School Education Department, UT Ladakh.
It aims to introduce structured hygiene education in schools through classroom learning, teacher training, practical demonstrations and digital learning tools.
According to Reckitt, the programme is designed to move beyond simply telling children about hygiene and instead help them understand, practise and reinforce everyday behaviours.
Bhanu Prabha said, “Schools are not just places where children learn; they are where lifelong habits are shaped. Children are our multiplier force, and when we help them build healthy habits early in life, they carry these practices back to their families and communities, creating a wider culture of health and hygiene.”
The curriculum will focus on five areas: personal hygiene, hygiene at school, hygiene at home, hygiene during illness and hygiene in the neighbourhood.
Students will receive age-appropriate learning material, including student workbooks, hygiene-themed comic books, awareness posters and curriculum-based classroom activities. Teachers will be supported through training manuals and structured teaching resources, enabling hygiene lessons to be integrated into classroom learning rather than treated as a one-time awareness activity.
The programme will also use interactive formats to make hygiene education more engaging. Children will have access to animated hygiene content, child-friendly videos developed in partnership with Sesame Workshop, digital hygiene games and an interactive hygiene chatbot. These tools are intended to make hygiene concepts easier to understand and provide opportunities for children to engage with the subject beyond conventional classroom instruction.
Practical learning will form another component of the programme. Schools will use 3D DIY hygiene and sanitation kits and game-based learning tools, along with live handwashing demonstrations showing children the correct handwashing technique and explaining how hand hygiene can help prevent the spread of infections.
Together, these activities are intended to turn awareness into habits that children can practise regularly.
Prof. Ravi Bhatnagar, Director, Corporate Communications and Corporate Affairs, South Asia, MENARP, and Africa, Reckitt said, “The expansion of Dettol Banega Swasth India to Ladakh reflects our belief that geography should never be a barrier to healthier lives.”
