The Department of Education Research Policy and Innovations is attempting to equip all parents of St. Maarten’s FBE students ages 5-12 with the necessary tools to make their families both happy and successful.
In light of the above DERPI is organizing a series of Active Parenting Workshops and is currently reminding parents to attend the workshops available at their child’s school so that they can be properly informed. Families can work together to support each other in order to form better communities. The workshops are available at all FBE and VSBO/PSVE schools.
Several FBE schools have completed sessions with the first set of parents and are continuing on with the second group.
Both Sundial and St. Maarten Academy PSVE have also closed off initial sessions for the year and are busy with group 2. Last Wednesday, October 14, Milton Peters College began with its first group of parents and this workshop will be completed by mid-November.
In addition to the participating schools, the Total Praise Ministry concluded the Active Parenting Now in 3 for parents with children 5-12 years old. The youth leaders of the Belvedere Community Center and staff members of the Windward Islands Bank have also recently completed the Active Parenting of Teens workshop in six sessions. This workshop targeted parents of children ages 12-18.
The schools and institutions which have completed their workshops have begun to issue certificates to participating parents starting last week.
Most of the parents have expressed gratitude to DERPI for giving them the opportunity to enhance their parenting skills. One parent emphatically stated that the information, tips and guidelines provided to them in the past weeks were very useful.
"No one taught us how to be parents, but now we have this program right here on St. Maarten at the right time," one parent said.
Other parents echoed this statement adding that while they felt the sessions were too short, the interactive nature of the workshops allowed them to learn a lot from each other.
"I have really learned a lot from the other parents in this workshop," one parent said, "we are all really facing the same challenges."
Parents said that the workshops have allowed them to learn to appreciate their children a lot more and also respect their children as individuals.
"I have grown a lot because of this course; it’s no longer always a power struggle. Now I also give my children choices and listen to them more," another parent said.
Fathers have been participating from the beginning, their presence and input is of the utmost importance in these sessions and therefore the attendance of the fathers is indispensable.
DERPI again encourages parents to enquire at their children’s respective schools for information about workshops and schedules.
All workshops are offered completely free of charge and are part of the innovations in education funded with Dutch Development funds trough USONA.