More friendly schools coming

The Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development is set to roll out an additional 11 schools in the Schools Positive Behaviour Management Project (SPBMP), formerly called the Child Friendly Schools (CFS) programme.To achieve this, the ministry in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), will host training for principals and teachers at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Monday and Tuesday.The training will guide educators on the tenets and skills needed to offer an alternative to corporal punishment through the use of SPBMP.Presently, there are ten primary schools and one secondary school which follow SPBMP principles.The CFS had its genesis at a CARICOM/UNICEF meeting in Trinidad in July 2006, where participants agreed to pilot the first “whole” school approach to test alternative strategies to behavioural management of children in public classrooms.The concept was formally introduced into the Barbadian school system in May 2007, by the Hillaby-Turners Hall Primary School. Since then, the school has reported a decrease in the number of cases being reported to the principal, a reduction in the use of corporal punishment in the classroom, improved behaviour among the student population, and a willingness by children to express themselves. (BGIS)