Certificates Awarded to Parent and Teacher Graduates of AVFP’s Training in “Positive Discipline for Everyday Parenting”

Positive Discipline, an approach to child development formulated by Save the Children as a curriculum for adults, is a long-term solution to correcting behavior in a child both at home and at school. This method of discipline applies to parents, teachers and those involved in the everyday lives of children. Early this year at Kondele Primary School, a student committed suicide. What she might have decided was the easiest way out of a problem that might have been avoided, had her teachers and parents listened to her problems and helped her devise a solution. After the child’s death, the Kisumu County Education Office approached AVFP to facilitate the training, “ Positive Discipline for Everyday Parenting ,” to reduce the frequency of corporal punishment and suicides reported in the County. This training occurred at the right time in Kisumu, especially in Manyatta, the city’s largest informal settlement where suicides among school-aged children have become rampant. In partnership with WSI, AVFP will train adults at all eight schools in the Manyatta Education Zone, in the hope of minimizing the number and severity of conflicts between teachers and parents, parents and children, and teachers and students, eventually reducing the stress levels of all involved. By engaging all the stakeholders, AVFP is in fact creating a better learning environment for the students.

AVFP first held an education stakeholders’ meeting, to pave the way forward. Attendees included, among others, the Kisumu County Education and Health Officers, child rights activists, and development partners working in Kisumu. AVFP held its first training in April 2015 at Magadi Primary School, where 30 participants, drawn from parents, teachers and the School Board of Management, were trained over five days. The second training, for Kondele Primary School, was held in July at Manyatta’s Kosawo Hall, for 26 participants. At the end of September, AVFP awarded certificates to all those who completed the Positive Discipline training, as required by law (to show that graduates did attend the training). Fifty-six participants took part in the Awards Ceremony, including the School Board of Management and parents and teachers at Magadi and Kondele Primary Schools. The ceremony was presided over by the District Education Officer, who also met with all the Positive Discipline participants as a nearby hotel.

[Read more about Positive Discipline Training led by AVP and WSI.]