Ministry of Education holds CFS workshop

The Ministry of Education (MoE) continues to progress in effecting a Child Friendly School (CFS) approach to education in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), as initiated with the Government by UNICEF.{{more}} This summer, the Ministry of Education began a new partnership with a local community based organization, the St Vincent and the Grenadines Children’s Federation, in a two-day workshop on Thursday, July 25 and today, Friday, July 26, 2013 at the Curriculum Development Unit (CDU) conference room.

Officials from the Ministry of Education, principals and teachers of the 13 CFS pilot schools were the main participants of this workshop. They benefitted from understanding in a very dynamic way:

o a global perspective of what comprises a child friendly learning environment;

o what are universal ethical practices in working with children, particularly as it relates to the Convention on the Rights of the Child

o and assessing the learning environment through the participation and engagement of students, parents/community members and school administrators in order to implement plans that lead to the improvement of children’s learning and the overall school environment.

The workshop was facilitated by Dominican national Gelina Fontaine, the program manager of ChildFund Caribbean – a funding partner of the SVG Children’s Federation, and Australian skilled volunteer and education advisor to ChildFund Caribbean Amy Folan. ChildFund was formerly known as the Christian Children’s Fund and in the Caribbean is headquartered in Dominica.

This ongoing work in CFS, which has recently been initiated in St Vincent and the Grenadines, will have tremendous positive, short and long-term impact on the educational and industrial sectors in St Vincent and the Grenadines. It is a massive movement towards a modernized cultural shift in fostering innovation, creativity and social responsibility in our children and youth and requires all necessary local and international partners on board. Hence, the MoE welcomes the start to a new partnership with the St Vincent and the Grenadines Children’s Federation and ChildFund Caribbean.