/ 3 May 2002

Students taught to help each other

Bongani Majola

Students identify with other students naturally. To exploit this simple truism, Technikon Pretoria has developed an innovative Peer Education Programme to provide students with skills to help their peers.

Programme manager Francette Bedford says the programme has three core training areas. The academic peer education area is aimed at students within the accounting and chemistry fields who are willing to help other students with content and study skills.

There is also core training in helping skills for students interested in community outreach, campaigning against drug and alcohol abuse, or career guidance. The third area of training focuses on residence leaders to provide them with the necessary helping and referral skills to support students effectively.

Students volunteer for the peer programme, and their training focuses on self-development and growth. Once they have completed training, according to Bedford, “they then enrol for a module on referral techniques. And here students are trained in identifying problems that may warrant referral for professional help and on the procedures for referral.”

Students can choose a field of specialisation to suit their own tastes and skills. Working closely with the technikon’s Recruitment Division, peers are trained to assist young people with career choices.

The “peer junkies” are the most popular of all specialised fields. They specialise in awareness of alcohol and drug abuse. They are currently planning a research project in the residences to determine the real extent of alcohol and drug use in residences. “There is a perception that students drink too much and use drugs indiscriminately”, says Bedford, “but we think it might only be a small number of students who are responsible for this misconception about drinking habits of the majority.” The results of the project will be used during awareness campaigns.

Trainees are supervised closely and strongly encouraged to be actively involved in a project and to support their peers for at least six months before they are certificated as trained peer helpers. The peer supporters also attend weekly meetings during which they report back on their projects and activities and share their experiences with fellow peer supporters.

Over the years, the number of students attending the programme has doubled, with this year’s intakes averaging some 60 students each. The opening of the Peer Support Centre last year confirmed “the necessity for intensive helping-skills training”, says Bedford.

Fund-raising for charity has been incorporated in the peer projects. In one project to raise funds for child welfare, learners at various schools “bank” their tuck shop money for a period of two weeks, after which it is collected by charity organisations.

Bedford says, “We see peer support more as a life-skills programme since it equips students with skills to cope in life and for personal growth and development. In this way, students acquire skills to make a difference and add value to the lives of other young people.”/