Teaching Virtues to our Children in Schools .

I came across this interesting article in the Sunday Express Newspaper of 3rd April 2011. It was written by Aabida Allaham.

It is about implementation of a virtue program for children leaving the primary schools (10-12year olds). Apparently the program has been in effect for several years however they hope to put a Trinidad flavour to it. I am hoping to discuss this program with my son, who we hope (by the Grace of God) will be attending a Catholic Secondary School in September.

STANDARD five pupils attending Roman Catholic schools in Trinidad and Tobago will have an opportunity to learn about issues ranging from responsibility to abstinence during their final semester.

The initiative is part of the 2010 Values and Virtue Programme developed by the Catholic Commission for Social Justice and the Archdiocese of Port of Spain and aims to help young people find ways to enable themselves to live full and productive lives.

"The way the world is going, we need to ensure that our children are instilled the kind of virtues and values that will help them to make the right choices," said Leela Ramdeen, chair of the Commission.

Ramdeen made the comments during an interview with the Express at a training workshop for more than 100 teachers from various Roman Catholic primary schools across the country at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya.

"We developed the programme with teachers and with principals so that they can implement it in their schools and reflect also on the values of their school," she said.

For two years the programme relied on American teachings, but this year Ramdeen said they have been able to localise with the help of Republic Bank and other sponsors.