School is the main place in a child's life, where he/she acquires knowledge, finds answers to questions and learns to act thoughtfully.
In the context of increased access to modern technological means, it is becoming more and more important to provide children, in the school setting, with age-appropriate, reliable information on issues related to their growth and development, their health and safety, and on issues receiving incorrect or distorted information on which may cause misunderstanding and misconceptions, instead of finding answers to questions.
The National Curriculum for the subjects “Biology” and “Civic Education” for the lower secondary level include the issues of “reproductive and sexual health and healthy lifestyle”. In order to genuinely implement these issues in the school setting, it is important to teach the issues related to “safety and sexual offences” at the primary level.
In order to make issues related to health and personal safety available in schools, the Ministry of Education, in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Informational Medical-Psychological Centre – Tanadgoma, is implementing the pilot project the Doctor's Hour.
What is the Doctor's Hour?
Within the framework of the project the Doctor's Hour, an 8-session instructional material has been developed per each grade for students of grades 1-6 of the primary level, and online trainings were provided for doctors and form masters/mistresses.
In October-December 2021, the first pilot project of the Doctor's Hour was implemented in 6 public schools in Tbilisi, and in March-June 2022, 3 more schools in Tbilisi and 3 - in Sagarejo joined the initiative.
This was the best project that I have ever implemented in schools, because it was focused on the personal development of students starting from the early age - primary school level, on managing their social-emotional behaviour, which I think is laying the foundation for the whole life. How a person manages his/her behaviour, to what extent he/she feels realized, depends on solving behavioural problems, how good students are at managing their emotions, taking care of each other and themselves, practicing personal hygiene. In fact, within the framework of this project, all the basic and important issues were covered, which are very important throughout life,” says Eka Tabuashvili, Principal of Tbilisi Public school No. #182.
The school is one of the educational institutions where the Doctor's Hour was implemented for first graders. As she points out, when the subject “Me and Society" is introduced in the third grade as part of the curriculum, children still do not have information about such important things as hygiene, personal space, one’s own and other's rights, and so on. Introducing the Doctor's Hour From the very first grade, is a kind of preparation of the ground for future learning. The Principal of the school appreciates the readiness of the parents for the topics covered by the pilot project, in this “still taboo and stereotypes-driven society.”
The doctor of the same school, Nino Bakhutashvili, believes that the Doctor's Hour is a very necessary and timely project, and she thinks that it should have been introduced even earlier.
The level of awareness of [the issues] that we have to talk about and teach within the framework of the Doctor's Hour is very low among children. I don’t know whose fault it is: is it the fault of parents or the environment in general? We teach them interesting things and, in a form, tailored to their age, the content is understandable and challenging for them and they show great interest in the issues," she says.
According to her, one of the important topics discussed during the Doctor's Hour was the topic of good touch and bad touch, when she taught 6-7-year-old students what personal space means:
If something bad happens to us when we are adults, no one can deceive us, adults understand everything, whereas childhood is a period when we are not secured, because children do not know what they are dealing with. I taught them which part of their bodies a stranger is allowed to touch them, who they can trust and who they should turn to [in case of danger]."
A form mistress of the same school, Nino Jincharadze, who together with the doctor trained the first graders, believes that the programme, along with its supporting material, “evoked children's interest and was stuck in their memory.”
When a parent tells his/her child that something is not acceptable, they cannot provide their children with any other information. The child does not understand why this is not acceptable, well, he/she does not understand it thoroughly, but when they watch a video, listens to a story, draw and colour paintings, they understand more clearly why this or that behaviour is not acceptable. For example, why they should not follow strangers, why they should not share personal information with others, why they should not be touched by strangers on private parts of their body, who they cannot trust and why they should trust these people. I think this is very important. If the foundation is laid in this form from the beginning, the child will be more prepared to face the situation that poses some risk to them,” she says.
"There are topics that are generally tabooed and cause a sense of embarrassment. Teachers tend not to pick up these topics and children feel embarrassed to talk about them. They are interested, but they cannot ask questions directly; these topics are introduced in such a way, that neither children nor teachers feel any embarrassment."
Why was the Doctor's Hour created?
Health and personal well-being programmes are curriculum-based learning and teaching processes that aim to equip children and young people with knowledge, skills, and values that are fundamental to their own health and well-being. They also imply developing right ideas about social and sexual relations, help children realize how their choices affect their lives and the lives of those around them, and above all, teach them about their rights and how to realize these rights throughout their lives.
According to Mariam Bandzeladze, a programme analyst at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Georgia Country Office, the UNFPA has been working for many years to ensure that adolescents have access to age-appropriate information about their health and bodies:
When we talk about personal safety, it's important to remember that the right information is the starting point for both adolescents and their families. Learning about and perceiving the world and oneself is an integral part of a child's life, and schools, families and other stakeholders should join their efforts to ensure that adolescents can make harmonious transition into adulthood and to facilitate their development in an environment free from violence.
According to Maya Jibuti, psychologist of the NGO “Tanadgoma”, the teachers and school doctors trained within the framework of the project “had to face a challenge.”
They felt sceptical towards the topics at first, they were worried about how they would cope with all this. The doctors told us that they had no teaching experience. However, fortunately, they were able to implement the process of teaching students in a very interesting way, and they themselves saw how great the need and necessity of implementing the Doctor's Hour programme was,” she says.
The pilot project Doctor's Hour helped me to see how important it is to teach children about topics like health, relationships, and personal safety, to let them think about and reflect on these issues,” Jibuti says, adding that students in grades 1-6 during the pilot project “showed great interest and reflect on all the issues that the programme covers.”
Bullying at school is one of the topical issues and the Doctor's Hour started discussing issues related to bulling/violence with first graders, using various methodologies and interactive exercises. As Maya Jibuti noted, “the main emphasis was placed on the requirement that a person should not remain indifferent when he/she witnesses bullying of another person, of a friend, a classmate, that they should tell the bullies that their behaviour is wrong. The students were able to integrate well in this topic as well."
According to her, children were completely involved in interactive processes, naturally mastering important issues such as: correct communication, sharing emotions with each other, minimizing conflicts. They have been introduced to some new concepts such as “a stranger”, “trusted person”, how to act in case they get loss and/or when they face violence, violation of their personal space or personal safety.
“The project helped me to see clearly that the students are ready to accept, talk about and discuss the above-mentioned topics and issues. I saw how important it is for their future life to have all the vital skills and knowledge that is related to protection of their health, building personal relationships correctly, identifying violent behaviour and reporting it,” she says, hoping that the Ministry of Education will approve the initiative of introducing the programme Doctor's Hour in schools, in a timely manner.
