1880 parents rewarded for attending parenting education programme |30 November 2019

Some of the participants in a souvenir photograph with Minister Adam, Minister Larue and other guests (Photo: Louis Toussaint)

• Launch of survey to assess efficiency of ante-natal & post-delivery education programme

One thousand eight hundred and eighty (1880) parents – 1346 females and 534 males – have been rewarded by the Ministry of Family Affairs for attending the ‘Parenting Education Programme’.

During the ceremony, the ministry also launched a survey to assess efficiency of ante-natal & post-delivery education programme in the presence of its minister Mitcy Larue, the Minister for Health, Jean-Paul Adam and the ambassador for Women and Children Dr Erna Athanasius.

The ‘Parenting Education Programme’ was introduced in 2013 where 47 sessions were held with 408 attendance in the following health centres: Seychelles Hospital, Anse Boileau, Anse Royale and English River. Six years on, both programmes are still going strong servicing other clients attending the Beau Vallon, Takamaka, Les Mamelles and Praslin health centres. There has been a considerable increase in attendance with a record 1880 (1346 females and 534 males) therefore showing its effectiveness as a national programme of national interest for the population.

During the award presentation ceremony held at the International Conference Centre, Minister Larue recalled the start of such a programme: “The National Plan of Action on Social Renaissance was developed following the series of consultation with the population. Among the six goals of the plan, the most prominent one calls on us to uphold the family as the central unit of society. As one of its most pressing strategies for the ministry then was to have targeted parenting sessions for various groups in the community. The aim of the exercise was to engage the population in a process of radical qualitative transformation to address the social challenges affecting the country by targeting couples starting or adding on to their family.”

She further noted that it was agreed that there is a need to integrate a psychosocial component into the existing maternal and child health programme run by the Ministry of Health. The antenatal and post-delivery parenting manuals were designed to help prepare parents-to-be for the arrival of the new baby or babies in the family and home. The programme focuses on the psychological, social, educational and spiritual needs of the parents and the children.

The minister applauded all the men and women who participated in the programme and kept on stressing on the importance of the family unit.

“My ministry is committed to pursuing its plan to develop a comprehensive national parenting education framework in collaboration with its partners to ensure a continuum of parenting support programmes for parents to empower them to better understand and manage the various developmental stages of their children until they become adolescents. It is an ambitious plan but one that we want to bring to fruition. I invite parents to engage with us on the next stage of the parenting education journey,” she concluded.

To make any programme successful, there is a need to measure its effectiveness. “Besides fulfilling the National Plan of Action on Social Renaissance, the antenatal and post-delivery parenting programme is a key action in addressing priority number 8 of the Seychelles Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education. Over the past years, the Ministry of Family Affairs has contributed projects in the ECCE National Plan of Action and one of the projects featuring in the 2019 -2020 Plan is the survey.

“This project will assess the efficiency of the antenatal and post-delivery programme and parents present will be active participants of this survey. The survey result will establish a base line and provide the ministry with important information that will guide further decision making. All the parents who participated in the parenting programme from 2015 -2018 will be asked to participate in this survey,” noted the director for social services, Beryl Laboudallon.

During the programme, Martin Lebon and Nicolette Beaudoin shared their experiences gained with the programme.

There was also a performance by the Angels Choir.

All parents received a certificate whereas the coordinators and facilitators received a token of appreciation.

Vidya Gappy