King Abdullah award for fitness winners honoured on Tuesday

AMMAN — Deputising for HRH Crown Prince Hussein, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Walid Maani on Tuesday attended a ceremony to honour winners of the King Abdullah II Award for Physical Fitness.

The award’s 14th itineration included more than 700,000 students from 2,777 schools across the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Maani, in the presence of Chairman of the Royal Health Awareness Society Rami Farraj and Amman Governor Saad Shihab, highlighted the importance of the award in showing the creative power of Jordanian youth and the need to invest in them.

During the ceremony, the minister presented 40 first and second place awards to students aged between nine and 17 years old, in addition to the eight highest scoring students with disabilities.

A national initiative established in 2005, the King Abdullah II Award for Physical Fitness targets young people, who represent one-third of the Jordanian population, and seeks to encourage young Jordanians to be more physically active and lead healthier lifestyles.

The goal of the award is to build self-confidence, encourage competition and challenge students to improve students’ talents and skills, according to the Royal Court website.