Condom giveaway sparks new plans for schools

TECLA REYES, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education said on Saturday that the recent giveaway of condoms has made the ministry look even more at the whole question of sex education and family life education in schools.

Reyes was delivering the feature address at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. She also stated that the ministry was spearheading a pilot project for the establishment of local school boards in schools, pointing out that it is one way of advising the community on the operations of the schools. CPNE is an organisation that came into existence in 2001, with a mission to engage the national community in creatively exploring, researching and sharing culturally appropriate tools and skills for parenting in Trinidad and Tobago in the new era. One hundred participants from four cycles were presented with their certificates of participation in the project alliance of Non Governmental Organisations (NGO) Families In Action, Caribbean Conference of Churches and the Choices Network.

Awardees were the beneficiaries of scholarships from the J B Fernandes Trust  and completed 126 contact hours of an intensive “Train the Trainers Parenting” programme. Reyes informed the gathering that it was Fernandes’ intention to fund another three of the 44 existing NGO’s in the nation. Also addressing the gathering was CPNE’s chief Executive Officer Joan Bishop who gave a brief history of the organisation and what the participants of the programme had to endure. She said the programme demanded a great deal of commitment of the participants’ and facilitators’ personal time. She said the training focussed on the Self in Context, the Family in Context and the Self as a Facilitator. Emphasis is on personal healing through reflection on one’s life history released from barriers that impeded their effectiveness.