The Transition to Secondary School (T2S) Programme has just ended its second week, with only a few schools left to complete its delivery in all Government secondary schools.

An initiative of the National HIV/AIDS Commission, T2S aims to equip first formers with some necessary skills to successfully switch to their new school environments.

The programme targets all students who completed the Common Entrance Examination, and who have recently entered a secondary school.

According to the programme???s Coordinator, Alexis Nurse, the sessions are being delivered by expert facilitators, and students have been generally ???very much engaged???, demonstrating a need for such a programme.

Designed as a confidence builder, T2S was conceptualised to reduce some of the emotional and physical vulnerabilities many students experience on moving from primary to secondary school and from being seniors at their old schools to the most junior in the new.

To overcome some of these vulnerabilities, the programme covers subjects such as Drug Awareness, Bullying and Conflict, STI Prevention, Human Sexuality, and Gender Issues. Coping strategies are also offered for avoiding some of the negative pitfalls which can face the new school entrant.

This is the first year of the national programme, which will complement other efforts being undertaken to assist students in this important transition.??The T2S programme is conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, and the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development, and is being funded by the European Union.

Author: National HIV/AIDS Commission

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