‘Community Companions’ can be role models for mainstream secondary education

Today’s adolescents need to meet their diverse need such as psycho-social counselling, lessons of sexual and reproductive health, rights and gender, creative arts and core curriculum

Adolescents are faced with many challenges as it is a very difficult stage in life. Their body goes through many changes and without proper guidance and assistance, an adolescent can be confused and lost. The disconnectedness between adolescents, parents and teachers can cause problems for an adolescent especially with the generation gap. Adolescents in Bangladesh often feel that they do not have anyone to share their problems or their feelings with. Boy and girls students studying in the secondary and higher secondary levels both  urban or rural areas have very similar stories thoughts and ideas about  marriage, physical and psychological changes, family problems and their life in educational institutions. Some of the problems regarding the educational institutions and family life vary from urban and rural areas, however, the perspective of these adolescents are very similar. These are the significant elements of education which they hardly think even the scenario of education has changed quite a lot. Time is ripe enough to address these issues as integral parts of education. BRAC University Institute of Education and Development piloted an initiative in 33 schools mostly located in urban and sub-urban areas and their practical experience shows some positive results and convinces us to mainstream the idea of community companions to ensure a holistic development of education in our secondary level education set-up.
Today’s adolescents need to meet their diverse need such as psycho-social counselling, lessons of sexual and reproductive health, rights and gender, creative arts and core curriculum. Our traditional curriculum approaches ignore and overlook these diverse needs. Our traditional set up of schools have not been habituated to cater to these sorts of needs of the students. Students get little interest in schools and the increased drop out has been a common phenomenon. Only academic attainment has become the principal focus of the guardians and students ignoring the practical needs of the time and age. Our schools just show the very traditional attitude towards the issues adolescent students face.
Adolescent students need to know about sexual and reproductive health rights and gender aspects. They can learn these issues   through discussions and true interaction by such individuals who are not really teachers but teacher like, who are not their classmates but classmate like friends. Though we continuously argue that teachers are the friends of students, we could not have actually established this situation yet. Still our school situation does not ensure that students can share the changes they undergo at this stage of life with their teachers. But they need to share these things with others. Have we thought of these individuals to give the important supports they need? Community companions who are not class teachers but do the function like a teacher or more like a teacher. They will be available to individual students for out-of-school discussions and also visit students’ households if necessary to ensure school attendance and discuss issues that adolescents face. Students will gain a greater awareness of and empathy for, the challenges that their peers are facing through the sessions that community companions run.
After initial awareness raising community companions can spend one month or more in the schools with students to develop relationship and observe their classes. They need to undergo a basic training covering SRHRG (Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights and Gender) issues, para-counselling and how topics could be made accessible to students through discussion and facilitation. They may use stories from their own personal experience to stimulate discussion. Once students have overcome their initial hesitation and embarrassment these will turn into dynamic discussions, giving students a voice in issues that concern them. BRAC –IED piloting proves that community members and parents report that the presence of community companion has a beneficial impact on the community.
They introduce SRHRG topics to students and encourage them to discuss the issues in an interactive and engaging manner.  Stimulating discussion about the challenges faced by adolescents and more open relationships between adolescents and parents take place. Community companions can be community leaders to solve some local problems with their deep attachment with the community and the skills and behaviours they gain through the non-traditional service.
Community companions have made immense personal development while the program was going on. They say that they have gained confidence in their abilities, respect within the community, better communication skills, independence, enhanced expectations regarding their own future roles and leadership qualities. They worked in challenging situations as students are drawn from disadvantaged communities and struggle to balance study with employment demands. Non-academic life is often not allowed for girls and not given importance, but a study shows how the effect of the non-academic domain helps students benefit from academic, psychological and social outcomes. Girls and boys do not feel they get the accurate support from mothers or teachers and rely solely on peers. So, a strong social network is needed to improve the relationship between the adolescents and their elders. On the contrary, having friendship helps develop communication and their mental health development.

Who can be Community Companions? Young girls or boys who passed SSC or HSC or even the students of these grades can be community companions or para-counsellors to provide support  focusing on the psychological wellbeing of the adolescents and issues of SRHR and gender. They can provide the adolescents with mental support, gender and rights, as well as extend family support.  They can discuss mental and psychological changes, sexual health and hygiene, relationship with family, peers and community, gender discrimination and harassment, through education and dissemination of correct information.
In order to cater to an adolescents’ emotional needs, lessons on SRHRG and psychological counselling can provide an avenue for accurate and healthy information about one’s body and bodily rights and integrity and better understanding about one’s emotions. Community companions can conduct the sessions through dialogue, activity, story-telling and art centric mediums. Their sessions must cover body and body image, self-expression, gender-performance and roles, nutrition during growing up, relationship with family and friends, abuse, bullying, power inside the classroom, anger and stress management, animal abuse. Parenting workshops can be arranged by the community companions to disseminate relevant parenting skills among the families. The introduction of the idea of community companions in secondary schools can address many social ills we hear , experience and witness almost every day.
 
The writer works as an education specialist in BRAC Education Programme

Community Companions can be role models for mainstream secondary education

Todays adolescents need to meet their diverse need such as psycho-social counselling, lessons of sexual and reproductive health, rights and gender, creative arts and core curriculum

Adolescents are faced with many challenges as it is a very difficult stage in life. Their body goes through many changes and without proper guidance and assistance, an adolescent can be confused and lost. The disconnectedness between adolescents, parents and teachers can cause problems for an adolescent especially with the generation gap. Adolescents in Bangladesh often feel that they do not have anyone to share their problems or their feelings with. Boy and girls students studying in the secondary and higher secondary levels both urban or rural areas have very similar stories thoughts and ideas about marriage, physical and psychological changes, family problems and their life in educational institutions. Some of the problems regarding the educational institutions and family life vary from urban and rural areas, however, the perspective of these adolescents are very similar. These are the significant elements of education which they hardly think even the scenario of education has changed quite a lot. Time is ripe enough to address these issues as integral parts of education. BRAC University Institute of Education and Development piloted an initiative in 33 schools mostly located in urban and sub-urban areas and their practical experience shows some positive results and convinces us to mainstream the idea of community companions to ensure a holistic development of education in our secondary level education set-up. Todays adolescents need to meet their diverse need such as psycho-social counselling, lessons of sexual and reproductive health, rights and gender, creative arts and core curriculum. Our traditional curriculum approaches ignore and overlook these diverse needs. Our traditional set up of schools have not been habituated to cater to these sorts of needs of the students. Students get little interest in schools and the increased drop out has been a common phenomenon. Only academic attainment has become the principal focus of the guardians and students ignoring the practical needs of the time and age. Our schools just show the very traditional attitude towards the issues adolescent students face. Adolescent students need to know about sexual and reproductive health rights and gender aspects. They can learn these issues through discussions and true interaction by such individuals who are not really teachers but teacher like, who are not their classmates but classmate like friends. Though we continuously argue that teachers are the friends of students, we could not have actually established this situation yet. Still our school situation does not ensure that students can share the changes they undergo at this stage of life with their teachers. But they need to share these things with others. Have we thought of these individuals to give the important supports they need? Community companions who are not class teachers but do the function like a teacher or more like a teacher. They will be available to individual students for out-of-school discussions and also visit students households if necessary to ensure school attendance and discuss issues that adolescents face. Students will gain a greater awareness of and empathy for, the challenges that their peers are facing through the sessions that community companions run. After initial awareness raising community companions can spend one month or more in the schools with students to develop relationship and observe their classes. They need to undergo a basic training covering SRHRG (Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights and Gender) issues, para-counselling and how topics could be made accessible to students through discussion and facilitation. They may use stories from their own personal experience to stimulate discussion. Once students have overcome their initial hesitation and embarrassment these will turn into dynamic discussions, giving students a voice in issues that concern them. BRAC IED piloting proves that community members and parents report that the presence of community companion has a beneficial impact on the community. They introduce SRHRG topics to students and encourage them to discuss the issues in an interactive and engaging manner. Stimulating discussion about the challenges faced by adolescents and more open relationships between adolescents and parents take place. Community companions can be community leaders to solve some local problems with their deep attachment with the community and the skills and behaviours they gain through the non-traditional service. Community companions have made immense personal development while the program was going on. They say that they have gained confidence in their abilities, respect within the community, better communication skills, independence, enhanced expectations regarding their own future roles and leadership qualities. They worked in challenging situations as students are drawn from disadvantaged communities and struggle to balance study with employment demands. Non-academic life is often not allowed for girls and not given importance, but a study shows how the effect of the non-academic domain helps students benefit from academic, psychological and social outcomes. Girls and boys do not feel they get the accurate support from mothers or teachers and rely solely on peers. So, a strong social network is needed to improve the relationship between the adolescents and their elders. On the contrary, having friendship helps develop communication and their mental health development. Who can be Community Companions? Young girls or boys who passed SSC or HSC or even the students of these grades can be community companions or para-counsellors to provide support focusing on the psychological wellbeing of the adolescents and issues of SRHR and gender. They can provide the adolescents with mental support, gender and rights, as well as extend family support. They can discuss mental and psychological changes, sexual health and hygiene, relationship with family, peers and community, gender discrimination and harassment, through education and dissemination of correct information. In order to cater to an adolescents emotional needs, lessons on SRHRG and psychological counselling can provide an avenue for accurate and healthy information about ones body and bodily rights and integrity and better understanding about ones emotions. Community companions can conduct the sessions through dialogue, activity, story-telling and art centric mediums. Their sessions must cover body and body image, self-expression, gender-performance and roles, nutrition during growing up, relationship with family and friends, abuse, bullying, power inside the classroom, anger and stress management, animal abuse. Parenting workshops can be arranged by the community companions to disseminate relevant parenting skills among the families. The introduction of the idea of community companions in secondary schools can address many social ills we hear , experience and witness almost every day. The writer works as an education specialist in BRAC Education Programme