Three South African projects will be competing in the Commonwealth Good Practice awards, which will be announced for the first time during the 16th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in Cape Town during December.
An education good practice is an ‘education programme, project, policy strategy or significant intervention which has made a positive difference to the status or condition of primary school children, their teachers or the education system of a countryâ€.
The South African finalists for the award are the Centre for Early Childhood Development, the Art Therapy Centre and Generation of Leaders Discovered (Gold) Peer Education model.
– The Centre for Early Childhood Development (ECD), which has already won several awards for its work, offers a range of services to the ECD sector. These include participatory and experiential training for people who are involved in management and administration in the ECD sector, training to ECD practitioners and ways to combat the spread of HIV through education programmes targeted at key role players in the sector. It also aims to enhance the capacity of ECD organisations.
– The Art Therapy Centre: Facilitators use art therapy projects, among others, focused on children who have been orphaned by Aids, their educators and care practitioners. Members of the projects work through their emotional problems using art. The art-making allows for the creation of a functional society, for healing to take place, change to take place in people’s lives and the capacity to see themselves as part of society.
– Gold Peer Education Development Agency: The organisation aims at equipping youth development organisations to put the Gold peer education model into practice. It is a three-year peer education programme in which adolescent peer educators demonstrate leadership potential. It creates a structured framework to address HIV/Aids at the level of young people.
Other finalists are from Cyprus, Gambia, Ghana, India, Pakistan and the Seychelles, focusing on projects that include the promotion of equal opportunities in diverse societies, boosting the enrolment rates, retention and performance of girls and improving schools through a holistic school development approach. — the Teacher
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