United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) partnered with Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) for undertaking life skills based sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education program from 2009 to 2017. In KISS, around 30,000 tribal students are pursuing their education out of which around 13,000 are tribal adolescents. A comprehensive Life Skills based Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH) Education Program is being implemented at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) with an aim for empowering adolescents with correct and age appropriate information on their safer and informed growing up process as well as initiating measures for institutionalizing the intervention for its long term sustainability within the institute. The intervention has been implemented to enhance the knowledge and skills of the students on life skills and SRH through classroom transaction at school level and peer education at college level.
Objectives:
- To enhance knowledge and skills among tribal students in school and college by imparting LSE and creating an enabling environment for improved Reproductive and Sexual Health.
- To build capacity of KISS as a resource center to support and expand LSE and to broaden data base in areas of ARSH
Results and Strategies:
- Capacity of KISS for furthering ARSH and LSE enhanced
- Knowledge and Life skills of students of KISS school and college through co- curricular activities enhanced
- Broaden Research base on Life skill focused learning
- Experience sharing, Networking and Advocacy of up scaling LSE intervention
The Life Skills based SRH education program has focused on the following components to empower adolescents with correct and age-appropriate information on their safer and informed growing up process.
- Promoting leadership and communication skills
- Helping in decision making along with coping with stress & emotion.
- Providing opportunities to learn about growing up processes, age-appropriate information and knowledge on undergoing physical/ psychological / social changes during adolescence.
- Promoting healthy practices, personal hygiene and nutrition.
- Dealing with reproductive health issues & concerns.
- Remaining safe and effectively handle instances of harassment including sexual harassment.
- Sensitizing on issues related to gender discrimination
- Dealing with peer pressure and avoid substance abuse with associated implications.
In 2009 to 2011, efforts made at KISS to enhance knowledge and skills of tribal students and also created an enabling environment for improved sexual and reproductive health. KISS emerged as resource agency having a critical mass of resource persons and a wide range of communication and training materials with socio-cultural sensitivity have also been developed.
From the year 2012 to 2014, KISS extended technical support in the implementation of the LSE based SRH education programme in 500 tribal residential schools of the government which included 318 SSD high schools and 182 KGBVs in phased manner for adolescents from the disadvantaged communities. Most of the resource materials used for LSE programme in the state were developed and tested at KISS. From 2015, with the support of UNFPA, the LSE programme in Government schools was directly implemented by the ST & SC Development Department, Government of Odisha where as the intervention continued in KISS for its sustainability with UNFPA support till 2017. From 2018, KISS form its own resource is implementing the program.
Highlights of the Intervention:
- 30 life skills based sexual and reproductive health (SRH) sessions are being transacted to students of grades 6th to 9th and grade XI through co-curricular approaches by trained teachers covering around 10,000 tribal adolescents.
- An online MIS was established to streamline reporting and track progress of transaction of LSE sessions in classes.
- Peer educators at college level have been trained in the life skills framework and are encouraged to promote life skills education (LSE) as well as share correct and complete information pertaining to ARSH among peers.
- Every year during summer vacation 75 to 100 peer educators organize community awareness programs back home to imbibe Life Skills amongst the adolescent of the tribal area as well as to promote health and hygiene practices
- Every Year Capacity building training of newly recruited teachers organized for a common understanding and preparing them to transact life skills sessions.
- Counseling services by trained 50 teacher counselors addressing the issues of adolescents.
- 3 sets of Sanitary Napkin Production Units are set up in ladies hostel to promote menstrual hygiene of adolescent girls.
- 51 research papers on Life Skills and ARSH issues with technical input of UNFPA were generated. Out of which 15 were undertaken by Post Graduate students of KISS.
Snow Balling Effects in KISS (Source: Midline Assessment 2014)
Students
- Developed self awareness, empathy and Good Interpersonal Relation
- Promoted healthy and hygienic practices.
- Enabled them to build their career and vision for future.
- Reporting of cases in KISS dispensary related to menstrual disorder reduced
Teachers and School
- Pedagogical changes in classroom transaction by teachers
- Better understanding of needs of the students
- Encourages participatory learning
- Created better relationship amongst students and teachers
- Created healthy environment for adolescents
Facilitated implementation of Program in government schools:
- Directly reached out 70000 indigenous children
- 100 District Resource Persons trained and engaged to extend hand holding support to teachers in session transaction and monitoring
- 500 Head Master sensitized on their role and responsibilities in intervention of the program in schools
- 1500 Government teachers selected and trained on LSE transaction
- Resource and communication materials developed, field tested and provided to school.
- 7900 School Management Committee members sensitized about the school level intervention
Efforts undertaken to integrate LSE programmee:
- Faculty members of District Institute of Education and Training(DIETs) under State Council for Education, Research and Training(SCERT) trained for integrating LSE in teachers training programme
- Capacity Building of Gender Coordinators to support and monitor the program in Kasturva Gandhi Valika Vidyalayas(KGBVs)
- Advocacy with Board of Secondary Education for integration of LSE in curriculum viz. physical education
Life Skills Education: A step towards empowering tribal adolescents
