Current Status ? June 2005
The National Council for Children (NCC) is the focal point for the Living
Values: An Educational Program (LVEP) in the Seychelles. Ms Ruby Pardiwalla,
NCC Director, is also the LVEP coordinator for Seychelles.
All schools both Primary and Secondary in the Seychelles are familiar with the
LVEP as all School Management teams and school counsellors have been sensitised
to the programme. To date, 14 schools out of the 35 have adopted the whole
school approach to the programme.
Living Values Education Training using a whole school approach continued during
the second half of the year 2004, mostly in schools on both Mahe and Praslin. To
date, five more schools have followed the training, three Primary, one Secondary
and one mixed, that is, Primary and Secondary, School for the Exceptional Child.
The total of trained staff members for this period is 165.
As in previous schools, the teachers responded positively to the training. They
participated actively and agreed that the LVEP would be a good programme to take
forward in their respective schools. All training sessions ended with Action
Planning where the staff planned how they were going to take LVEP forward. In
most plans it was decided that the programme will be used at both school and
classroom level so that every member of staff will be involved. A few
suggestions given were: during assemblies a value will be presented and other
associated activities will be carried out, morning talks with pupils will
include discussions on a particular value, song, story, poem and poster
competitions will be organised, LV clubs will be set up, values will be
integrated in subjects, exhibitions and many others.
Apart from schools, four groups of Child Protection Practitioners, a total of 52
altogether were sensitised on LVEP. They were Social Workers, Police Officers,
School Counsellors and Health Workers. The sessions were organised on a regional
basis and the main aim of it was to enable the participants to be more aware of
the values they possess and the same time be able to model these same values in
their day to day practice at both personal and professional level. The
sensitisation was well appreciated by all participants.
In an effort to enable parents to support the programme, a group of 15 PTA
representatives from the Northern Region of Mahe followed a half-day
sensitisation session on LVEP. This was conducted at the centre and the PTA
representatives were given an overview of the programme and were engaged in a
few reflection exercises.
It was evident that the participants shared more or less the same values the
same ones they would like their children to practise as well as the ones they
would like to see being practised in the community, country and the world at
large.
Some time was spent on looking at ways in which such values could be practised
at home to ensure a values based atmosphere in the home.
Once again participants expressed their satisfaction at having followed the
sensitisation and agreed that it was a programme worth having in schools.
Response to the Living Values programme is very positive. The next step will be
to conduct a formal evaluation to scientifically assess the impact.
2002 & 2003
In May 2002, an LVEP Train-the-Educator seminar was conducted for more than
twenty educationalists from the non-formal education sector working with
children. One of the recommendations stemming from this seminar was that LVEP be
introduced in the formal school curriculum. The LVEP coordinator from Hong Kong
and co-facilitator of the seminar, Mr. Christopher Drake, along with Ruby, met
with the Minister of Education to discuss ways of promoting the programme.
Between May and September, 2002, working sessions were held between NCC and the
Ministry of Education and Youth. This culminated in the organisation of another
training session in September for a group of Deputy Heads and Studies
Coordinators from all state schools on the main islands of Mah? Praslin and La
Digue.
The four-day workshop was facilitated by Mr. Christopher Drake and Maryline Low
Hong, the NCC inter- agency trainer, who had participated in a LVEP
Train-the-Trainers workshop in Oxford, UK, earlier that year.
The workshop was opened by the Director General for schools, Mrs Jeanne Simeon,
who said that there was ?a need for people to learn to understand, determine and
appreciate what was of value to individuals and the community and to develop
attitudes and values that could enable them to live harmoniously.? She also
added that ?educators are the shapers of behaviours and the ones who held the
keys to instilling the ideals of universal values of peace, respect,
cooperation, tolerance, unity and others in the learners.? At the closing
session the participants shared their plans in the presence of the Principal
Secretary of Education who handed over certificates to the participants.
Tuesday, 2 October 2002, marked the opening of Teacher?s Week in the Seychelles.
To launch the week?s activities a LVEP Conference was organised jointly by the
Ministry for Education and Youth and the NCC.
The Conference was attended by Ministers, Principal Secretaries, Members of the
Diplomatic Corps, Members of the National Assembly, Head teachers and Members of
the Parent?s Education Council.
The aim of the Conference was to introduce participants to Living Values and to
sensitise them to the positive impact that such a programme could have on the
lives of children and the school atmosphere.
Children from Mont Fleuri School gave the participants an ?avant-gout? of the
LVEP programme by performing two songs.
Mrs Geva Rene, Chairperson of the NCC, welcomed the guests and reiterated our
commitment to the children by reminding us of the message delivered by the
children at the U.N Special session in New York earlier this year. ?We have the
will, the knowledge, the sensitivity and the dedication. We promise that as
adults we will defend children?s rights with the same passion that we have now
as children. We promise to treat each other with dignity and respect. We promise
to be open and sensitive to our differences. We are children of the world, and
despite our different backgrounds, we share a common reality. We are united by
our struggle to make the world a better place for all. You call us the future,
but we are also the present?
Mr. Christopher Drake, LVEP Coordinator for Hong Kong, who in his charismatic
style captured the audience?s attention throughout his presentation, delivered
the keynote address. Some of his words, shared below, were much appreciated by
the listeners and it triggered a yearning to discover more about the programme:
"Recent years have also seen ever-greater recognition of
the place that must be accorded to values at the heart of the individual, of
society, our learning and life. The implications of all this for educators
are immense and lay before them a tremendous challenge.
Education fails if its outcome is an individual who is intelligent, skilled
and knowledgeable but unable to live, work and get on with others. We must
not just learn about respect and understanding but to be respectful and
understanding of others and their rights and freedoms.
True quality education must help individuals identify, and adopt, personal
and social values that they can call on to guide the decisions they make,
their relationships, work and life as a whole. It must help them develop a
depth of character and a clear sense of their own identity, integrity and
what they believe to be important in life. We must learn about the values
that will guide us towards desirable, fulfilling and worthwhile outcomes in
our actions and daily life as individuals in our own right, the masters of
our own selves, but also as citizens of the world community.
To live in society is to accept the moral obligation, and civic duty, of
being conscious that society comprises other human beings with rights and
desires that must be acknowledged if not accommodated. The growth and
development of moral values is not quantifiable in the same way as
productivity or a national economy but these values are necessary for the
maintenance of the social sub-structure. However insignificant it may seem,
even the smallest of courtesies or expressions of civility can make life
much easier and pleasanter for others, as well as contributing to the smooth
functioning of society overall. In this way, as members of human society,
each individual, and all of us collectively, are architects of the society
of tomorrow; it is we who determine the future of humankind.
Our actions do have an immediate impact on other members of society and
their effect includes the fact that, starting from a young age, youth but
also adults, observe the actions of others and then emulate what they see.
This makes all of us educators by the example ? good or bad ? of our
actions. In turn, this highlights the need for our learning processes ? both
formal and non-formal ? to include ethics, spirituality, intercultural and
international understanding and the implications that these have for our
relationships. In a globalizing world in which no one is an island but all
individuals are increasingly exposed to people of different cultures,
conviction and outlook, social cohesiveness is under great strain. An
education that leads to appreciation of our richly diverse heritage while
also highlighting the common thread of our shared human identity and core
values is of critical importance. The more we accept the personal challenge
and responsibility of bringing these values back into our daily lives, the
more everyone?s rights will be observed and the more certain and secure the
future will be. As educators one and all we must envision the future we want
and commit ourselves to doing what we can do to weld the present to that
better tomorrow.
Education is of particular relevance in our endeavours to promote a free,
egalitarian and harmonious society since it is the human mind that is the
birthplace of the scourges of intolerance, discrimination and disrespect for
others? rights and freedoms. And let it not be forgotten that the human mind
and heart is also the cradle in which, nurtured by education, love,
kindness, respect and responsibility may grow and flourish for all."
The Conference was officially launched by the Minister for
Education and Youth who said, ?Let us try to bring values into the heart of
education and the learning experience of our children and youth. Let us, through
Living Values, promote a better world, a world in which we all live our values,
love, trust and respect for each other and move into the future with cooperation
and understanding.?
The President in his message to the teachers on ?Teachers? Day? also reinforced
the fact that teachers are ?the key to everything that we do in education for
they also have a crucial duty to inculcate in children and youth fundamental
values that are required to eliminate hatred, injustice, discrimination,
hostility and other sources of conflict that are detrimental to global peace and
harmony.?
The Indian High Commissioner Mr. H. E Malay Mishra crowned the occasion by
handing over a set of LVEP books to the Minister of Education and Youth. Mr.
Mishra has generously sponsored a set of LVEP books for each school in the
Seychelles.
The conference participants were exposed to a couple of LVEP activities and it
was encouraging to see the fatigued Head teachers relaxing and enjoying the
reflection exercises.
Participants of the September 2002 training session had these comments to make:
?This workshop has helped me better understand my own children as well as those
that have been entrusted in my care.?
?It has broadened my knowledge and skills as to how to go about instilling in
others the benefits I?ve gained and how it could also help to minimise the
behaviour problems we are encountering in schools.?
?This will help me become a better person. Both my pupils and colleagues will
experience the same thing.?
?I?ve managed to analyse the values more in depth and the workshop has helped me
to look at a lot of things differently.?
?Without values nothing will work so I intend to invest my full energy and
commitment in teaching it.?
Wednesday 3 October 2002, Mr. Drake and Ms. Pardiwalla met with all the staff of
La Digue school, one of the outlying islands. La Digue has a population of
approximately 2000 inhabitants and the NCC is presently running a project on
?Keeping Kids Safe? on that island which aims to reach out to each and every
inhabitant.
During Mr. Drake?s visit, talks were held with the Principal Secretary, Director
General and Director of The National Institute for Education (NIE) on how to
chart the way forward.
Between October 2002 and September 2003, 500 teachers from the main island have
been sensitised to the programme. Most schools have been introduced to the LV
activities in assemblies and through integration through different subject
areas.
Two more teachers attended the Train the Trainer workshop in Oxford in July
2003.
In September 2003, a conference, ? Understanding the place of Values Education
in classrooms?was held for Senior Management staff, Ministry of Education and
educators from primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions across
the islands, one hundred and fifty participants in all.
The conference was conducted by Christopher Drake and Derek Sankey from Hong
Kong Institute of Education. It was officially launched by the Principal
Secretary, Ministry of Education and the Minister for Education, unexpectedly
attended the opening ceremony, hence confirming the Ministry?s support to the
Living Values Education programme.
In that same week a series of workshops were held for curriculum developers and
teacher trainers from the primary and secondary curriculum teams under the
theme, ?Making Values Education possible in the classroom, working toward
Values-Based Education.?
During Christopher Drake?s mission, constructive talks were held with the
Minister for Education and his senior staff culminating in the commitment to
adopt Living Values throughout all schools in the Republic.
A sensitisation session was held for the cabinet of Ministers and the
Vice-President pledged government?s support to creating a values-focussed
approach to education and would like to see this approach extending to families
and to the community.
The members of the National Assembly were also targeted and the session was very
much appreciated by all present. They were taken through a values awareness
exercise and the feed-back is that they would like a more intensive workshop
where they could become more familiar with the programme and explore ways of
introducing it into their communities.
Sensitisation is ongoing. Enthusiasm for the programme is high amongst teachers.
The Ministry of Education and Youth is committed and supportive. Living Values
has anchored firm roots and is well on the way to establishing itself in all
Seychelles schools.
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Impact
Participants of the September 2002 training session had these comments to
make:
?This workshop has helped me better understand my own children as well as those
that have been entrusted in my care.?
?It has broadened my knowledge and skills as to how to go about instilling in
others the benefits I?ve gained and how it could also help to minimise the
behaviour problems we are encountering in schools.?
?This will help me become a better person. Both my pupils and colleagues will
experience the same thing.?
?I?ve managed to analyse the values more in depth and the workshop has helped me
to look at a lot of things differently.?
?Without values nothing will work so I intend to invest my full energy and
commitment in teaching it.?
Some teachers? comments after having implemented the program.
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?I?ve noticed that my students are more tolerant and loving
towards each other. They tend to help each other more and above all show much
more respect towards each other and their teachers.?
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?The word values have become THE word around the school
amongst both teachers and students. Efforts to change are being made by all.?
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?Living Values has been introduced to all teachers and
students, most activities conducted have values incorporated into them. The LVEP
has helped to curb some discipline problems among students and it?s much more
fun teaching them.?
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?Our parents support the programme and we are going to
involve them in some of our activities. Our job will be so much easier?.
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?Personally the programme has helped me to be more
understanding, patient and tolerant. I view myself differently. I am more
positive in my approach to life.?
