Empowering adolescents with life skills to prevent and respond to violence

In 2020 the Vaddu Central College, Vaddukoddai in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, integrated life skill teaching into the school’s timetable. Where the local school curriculum is designed to focus on academic rigour and subject-based learning, teaching life skills of any form is a deviation from the norm.  At Vaddu Central College, the Principal, Ms. Panchadcharalingam diversified formal schooling methods with the support of the Department of Education to dedicate two hours every week for social and emotional learning.

“I first learned of the concept of ‘life skill’ education in 2019. It was through the Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programs (PATHS) to Change approach introduced by the Department of Education, Northern Province. I was eager to learn more about the approach to initiate it at Vaddu Central College.” says Ms. Panchadcharalingam.

Life skill education based on the PATHS to Change approach aims to build resilience and protective capacities of students aged 11-15 years against societal violence. Designed to improve fundamental social and life skills, the approach inculcates critical personal qualities such as problem-solving, critical thinking, honesty and empathy, required by youth to navigate social situations, and to prevent, and protect themselves from, violence.

 “There’s a high acceptance of violence in our society. Especially violence against children by peers and adults. This social norm allows violence to perpetuate,” explains Ms. Rajamugunthan, the trained trainer of PATHS to change, who worked closely with the Principal to make the initiative a success in the school.

Life Skill education was implemented in the school in grades 7-10 – nearly 140 students from a total school population of nearly 500, both girls and boys. “I can see a difference amongst the students. They have a better understanding of the causes of violence. Their social skills and levels of acceptance have also improved,” adds Ms. Rajamugunthan.

Mr. Sivakugan (13) and Ms. Kalpana (15) share their experiences in life skill learning at Vaddu Central College.

“I have always been timid. I could not connect with other students. Classmates would tease me and call me names,” reveals Sivakugan, a grade 8 student. “The life skills training helped me understand that I have the capacity to change my situation. When I started to change, my peers’ attitudes towards me also changed. They became friendly. They were apologetic for their previous behaviours.”

“This also helped change my attitudes towards life and learning,” he adds. “I now feel a strong sense of love and care for my classmates. I continue to use the skills to change for the better.”

“The most important lesson I learned was to be altruistic, caring and forgiving,” says Kalapana from grade 10. “It was through a role-play scenario I took part in; a session focussing on fairness and moral values in the society that encouraged me to think ‘what would happen if there was no fairness in our daily lives?’ This made me realise the importance of justice and altruistic behaviour among adolescents.”

The “PATHS to change” life skill education project, implemented by UNICEF Sri Lanka with the financial support from the Hong Kong National Committee for UNICEF, focuses on developing life skills education for adolescents to be used as tools to reduce violence. Reaching 44 schools, 30 children's clubs, 20 children's homes in the Northern Province, nearly 3000 adolescents’ lives have been empowered through this project.