Virtues for Holistic Child Development in Tanzania

Due to the increase of reported cases of fatal injuries of children in school as a result of corporal punishment, we participated in a forum with the following organizations: Women in Law and Development Africa (WiLDAF), Bright Jamii Initiatives (BJI), People’s Development Forum (PDF), Haki za Wanawake (HAWA), Shirikisho la Vyama vya Walemavu Tanzania (SHIVYAWATA) – Association for People living with Disability, Community Focus on Teens and Single Mothers’ Welfare, Tanzania Child Rights Forum (TCRF) and Tanzania Early Childhood Development and Education Network (TECDEN).

In the forum we looked into different initiatives that aim at protecting children from corporal punishment and The Virtues Project was briefly presented as an alternative way to guide children to develop morally and enjoy an education environment free from corporal punishment.  The forum members agreed to participate in a Two Day Introduction to The Virtues Project as well as, to participate in evaluation of the program in the schools. We also came up with a plan to align our initiatives with the National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children (NPAEVAWC) in order to advocate for the review of education policy to make sure it supports schools free from corporal punishment: 

1. Conduct a standardized study/research showing the impact of corporal punishment to the student students and education system;
2. Map and engage key stakeholders in education system;
3. Validate and disseminate the report;  
4. Develop a policy brief;
5. Sensitization meeting on legal perspective on the issue among the organization in the forum;
6. Conduct policy review;
7. Disseminate the reviewed policy; and
8. Develop communication strategy to develop positive norms around abolition of corporal punishment;

With the assistance of organization partners we intend to do the following:

1. Convene a Two Day Introduction to The Virtues Project workshop for members of the forum in order to familiarize organization partners with the Five Strategies of The Virtues Project.
2. Develop Swahili training materials packages and design and print out the translated Swahili virtues cards;
3. Conduct monitoring visits to 6 schools that have begun implementing the Five Strategies of The Virtues Project in their schools, offer them refresher courses; and
4. Conduct a participatory evaluation visit with representatives from the forum and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

We thank you for your generous support of this very important work to end the caning of children in schools in Tanzania.  With your continued support we will be able to complete our evaluation and promote The Virtues Project in our schools as a positive character development model.