An ?innovative programme? for all children of five to seven years old. This is how the Bureau of Catholic Education (BEC) introduced ?Zippy?s Friends? to its partners last Friday. Now that the contract has been officially signed with the charity organization in charge of the programme, Partnership for Children, through its representative Caroline Egar, the Centre de Formation pour Educateurs is launching the project in ten Catholic primary schools next February.

?This programme fits in with the general philosophy of the BEC which is to cater for the all-round development of the child. It is one of the fundamental components of education for me although it appears to be the missing link in the present education system,? said the secretary of the RCEA, Alain Doolub. Education is supposed to cater for moral values, citizenship and civic responsibility in a traditional way but this is not enough for Alain Doolub who feels ?we need something new to help teachers deal with a situation that is beyond them?.

The BEC director, Gilberte Chung, emphasised the originality of this programme. ?It has been specially set up for the younger children. We normally tend to introduce programmes for adolescents or even adults where prevention programmes appear more efficient,? she pointed out. This programme aims to develop skills and competences such as communication, judgment, creativity, identity, cooperation and empathy from a very early age.

The objective of ?Zippy?s Friends? is to help children cope with their daily difficulties as children. ?What we found interesting in the programme is that it does not marginalise those with problems but is useful for any child,? Emilie Rivet-Duval, director of the project, explained. Through six different stories staging Zippy, a small insect, and his three friends, the children will be confronted with their daily problems.

?Children at that age have some difficulties ? with their friends, parents or coping with school for instance ? but they have neither the space to express themselves nor the vocabulary to say what they feel,? stated Emilie Rivet-Duval. Through the six modules contained in the programme, they are not only encouraged to express their feelings but are also given some tools to face the situations and find their solution on their own. ?This programme is not about telling the child what he should do but about teaching him to adapt to situations and find his own way of dealing with them,? added the psychologist. As a result the programme becomes efficient not only for the time the children are involved in it but for their entire lives as adolescents and adults.

Those applying the programme in Mauritius want the whole school community to feel involved in the project. ?Teachers will gain a lot from it because their working environment will certainly be improved. They may discover new ways of working, as the programme helps children face his or her own responsibilities,? Emilie Rivet-Duval said. Likewise, it is expected to lead to better communication within the family ? thus achieving improved relationships with parents.

As there is no programme dealing with violent behaviour at school, the BEC hopes that this project that deals with the social and emotional attitudes of the child will help solve some of the problems schools are facing at the moment. Three urban and seven rural schools will be the first to be involved in the programme. An expert will be in Mauritius in January to train teachers on implementation of the programme in preparation for its operational application in February. "By 2010, we will assess the programme in order to implement it in more schools in the following years," said the project director. ?We are ready to extend the project to the state schools and hope that the government will be interested in it,? concluded Gilberte Chung.