–with certification of 35 new welfare officers

SOME 35 welfare officers are now certified to provide psychosocial support to children in schools after graduating from a European Union (EU)-funded gender-responsive programme for psychosocial support to children in schools.

The training programme was conducted under the Spotlight Initiative, and implemented by UNICEF, in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Institute of Gender Studies at the University of Guyana.

Speaking at a simple graduation ceremony for the welfare officers, Schools Welfare Officer Zulfikar Hack said that the training programme has helped to challenge and change the perspective of how welfare and guidance council officers should deal with the varying social, emotional and psychological challenges that the learners face.

“It brought us new awareness and appreciation; it helped us to learn about equality and women and gender biases. In doing so, the officers were able to present and share, and we now have a good understanding when it comes to speaking of our children,” Mr. Hack he said.

The training programme ran for six weeks, and sessions were held at various locations, including schools, community centres and religious facilities.

“This six-week journey was a world-class experience for my colleagues and I; this programme served as an eye-opener, and has helped us to deliver better as school welfare and counseling officers. In many instances, it strengthened the understanding we had on the issues,” Mr. Hack noted.

The event was also attended by Deputy Chief Education Officer (DCEO), Administration Fazia Baksh; UNICEF Deputy Representative to Guyana and Suriname Irfan Akhtar, and MoE Specialist Dr. Olato Sam.

Speaking briefly, Mr. Akhtar emphasised that the training programme will go a long way in improving children’s participation in the classrooms.

He said that UNICEF remains committed to providing the necessary support needed to ensure the needs of children are met.

Delivering the feature address, Dr. Sam said that having to deal with the pandemic over the past two years highlighted and brought into focus the need for the school system to not only address the academic development of learners, but to also pay attention to assessing the physical, mental, emotional and psychosocial dimensions of the development and well-being of learners.

“In addition to this focus and responsibilities, the system has had to grapple with the pressing question of what policies, procedures and practices, coupled with professional development and experiences, can prepare school to better respond to the behavioral, social and emotional needs of students. This highly relevant and timely intervention is in direct response to that,” he said.

He noted that this training programme will go a far way in giving welfare personnel a solid foundation to roll out more comprehensive approaches to addressing the issue of dealing with how the pandemic has affected learners.

“It is initiatives such as these that continue to underscore the importance of collaborative approach in making education needs. It is our sincere hope that we will continue in this vein and pool our resources towards optimizing our impact on education in Guyana,” Dr. Sam related.