If everything goes well, the Parenting Without Violence project which is ongoing in 31 schools in Thimphu, Dagana and Zhemgang will be replicated in other schools across the country in the future. The three-year-long pilot project initiated by the Women and Children Division, secretariat to the National Commission for Women and Children began last year. The project aims to inculcate positive parenting among parents. For this, the project is training teachers and community volunteers who in turn will train parents and students.
Each session has various topics which focus on the need to bring up children in a violence-free environment. It also focuses on giving utmost importance to parent-children interaction at home.
The project also called as Deki Thuendrel meaning peaceful connection has a tool kit used for the training sessions. It has ten sessions for the parents and nine sessions for the students.
“The project has overall three major outcomes. We have specific sub-requirements. First of all is of course to train the school teachers in parenting without violence (using) the Deki Thuendrel Toolkit. The second one is to help boys and girls, in understanding child protection mechanisms. Also, the third one is to help them build confidence under the purview of the Child Care and Protection Act as well as the UNCRC where we respect the views and interests of every child and that no child is left behind,” said Kesang Tshokey, Programme Officer of Women and Children Division, NCWC.
According to the parents, the project has already started benefitting them.
“Deki Thuendrel teaches one to have love and care. Through it, I got new knowledge. Being a parent, we were taught to express love, care and communicate with our children,” said Sangay Phub, a parent.
In Thimphu, the sessions are carried out every Saturday. The teachers said that it is a good initiative receiving support and positive feedback from the parents.
“Parents told us that this session will benefit them in parenting their children. So they have a positive outlook on it. Likewise, I feel very optimistic and very fortunate to be a part of the project which is being given to parents and all the children,” said Ugyen Wangdi, a teacher at Jungshina Primary School.
However, some teachers said that due to the tight schedule in the school, they face a few challenges in carrying out the sessions.
“So far we have carried out two sessions. And the challenging thing is the time constraint. For our school, we are doing this session on Saturdays after the Professional Development programme. We conduct the session right after the programme. That is one challenge,” said Kinley Wangmo, a teacher at Taba Lower Secondary School.
Despite the time constraints, the project is progressing well in all the schools. An assessment will be carried out after the project ends next year before it is rolled out in the other districts.
Sonam Yuden
Edited by Kipchu
