Australians have been left “heartbroken” by new changes made to a beloved school education programme.
Those who grew up in Australia between the 1980s and mid-2000s will remember the excitement of the Healthy Harold giraffe puppet arriving at school in the iconic Life Education vans.
For more than four decades, the friendly giraffe traveled around the country talking to children from the back of his decked-out caravan about drugs, alcohol and healthy eating.
But a photo shared on Reddit of a new Life Education van, instead of the famous camper, sparked instant concern among nostalgic Australians.
‘Australia’s cost of living crisis has hit poor Healthy Harold. He had to downsize his team,” the poster wrote.
Anyone who grew up in Australia will remember the excitement of the Healthy Harold giraffe puppet arriving at school in the Life Education van (pictured).
A photo of a Life Education ute was taken by a passing car (pictured). These vehicles are used, in addition to the iconic vans, for new pop-up sessions in schools.
Many jumped to conclusions and believed that this marked the end of the famous caravan sessions.
‘It’s going to be a lot harder to fit 20 kids in the back of that than it is on the bus. But I have no doubt the psychotic giraffe will try,” one joked.
‘Mate, these days it’s nothing more than a puppet stand in the corner of the classroom. You can’t go in the dark truck parked on the oval anymore,” said another.
“Give it a few years and it’ll be a webinar,” added a third.
Healthy Harold (pictured) teaches children about topics such as drugs, alcohol and healthy eating
Homesick Australians shared their fond memories when Harold came to visit their school.
However, many reported that they still saw the vans in schools, although not as frequently as before.
“They definitely still have the truck, or they did earlier this year. I saw it on the side of the road while I was driving somewhere, I don’t remember where.”
“My son had the big caravan at his school all week when Harold arrived,” said another.
I actually saw the van yesterday! He is currently at a school on Old Cleveland Road in Brisbane, could have been Carindale/Chandler, not sure which. But it brought back some old memories,” said one.
Life Ed Australia CEO Russell D’Costa said the vans are still in operation today, in addition to new pop-up learning, live virtual sessions and pre-recorded sessions.
‘Just as the curriculum has changed over the years, so has Healthy Harold and the Life Ed team’s approach to meeting the needs of students, teachers and communities across the country. This includes the way we run our program,” said Mr. D’Costa.
‘Our iconic mobile learning centers (vans) are still operating in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, ACT and the Northern Territory.
‘We also provide education nationwide in pop-up (inflatable) classrooms, existing classrooms and through our virtual (live) and online (pre-recorded) lessons.
“Our collaborative approach adapts to the needs of different schools, allowing us to serve class sizes ranging from several students in remote communities to several hundred.”
Many took to the thread to share their favorite memories of Harold.
“It’s not a strange lesson in danger unless a smoking giraffe lures you into a van and offers you free stickers,” one wrote.
“Healthy Harold used to visit my children’s school on Sydney’s northern beaches and was teased several times as he ducked behind his big van to have a cigarette when the children returned to class.”
“I still feel cheated to this day when we were in the truck going to space, but I was standing next to the door and there was a gap where I could see the schoolyard and we hadn’t really gone anywhere.” “added one more.