Latest update October 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 12, 2011 News
The pilot Volunteer Mentoring which is set to end this month has been touted as a success by the Ministry of Education.
National Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) Coordinator, Carol Benn, has reported that the pilot Voluntary Mentoring programme has positively transformed targeted indisciplined students.
According to Benn, the students selected to undergo the programme now have an upbeat attitude towards their peers and teachers and have recorded improvements in their academic performance.
Some of these students, she said, are now role models to their colleagues and have also taken on the role of peer mentors.
The pilot programme which has gained widespread support from head-teachers and parents, will continue, the National PTA Coordinator said. It will be extended to five more schools by May this year, she added.
The Ministry of Education re-launched the Voluntary Mentoring Programme last year March.
The programme advanced by Education Minister Shaik Baksh aims to inculcate acceptable behaviour in students, promote tolerance and address some of the challenges facing the education system among them, violence and students’ low academic performance.
The intervention also has at its core the strengthening of relations between the school, home and community. Under the programme, a student (mentee) was paired with a former student or another person considered suitable (mentor).
During the pilot, the mentor, the mentee and his/her parent/guardian met and the latter was introduced to range of activities such as concerts, exhibitions and family outings. They also interacted on a number of issues, particularly those of interest to the mentee.
The mentors were encouraged to form themselves into groups and for parents to volunteer their services to establish school clubs to keep students more meaningfully occupied.
The Ministry of Education last September also teamed- up with ChildLink, formerly EveryChild Guyana to introduce the Youth Vision Programme. That initiative is geared to empower some 2000 vulnerable youths with the requisite knowledge and skills to realise their full potential.
The one year project which significantly supports the work of the Schools’ Welfare Department to create more violence free schools and promote environments that are conductive to learning is being piloted at the St. Winifride’s, St. Mary’s, Dolphin, Tutorial and the Huston Secondary schools.
Some 50 teachers along with 25 youth advocates and 100 student mentors have been tasked to deliver the programme which is also supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Since the placement of Guidance and Counseling officers at certain schools last year, there has been a significant decline in violence and other forms of unacceptable behaviours in the school system.
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