Pupils empower pupils

In a small classroom, two kids were in the role of teachers were instructing 30 others pupils at the same age, not about regular subjects but about child rights and how to protect themselves from risk of abuses.

The children were brilliant in facilitation. They provide their friends with games, quizzes and a lot freedom for discussions which is not common in the class of Vietnamese regular schools, making the session so loud and fun.

It is the Save the Children’s initiative to empower the children with knowledge about their rights and skills to protect themselves through peer-to-peer education.

Instead of providing regular teaching sessions at schools, Save the Children trains selected children to be key facilitators who then pass information on the rights of the children and the prevention method for their friends in order to protect themselves from all kinds of abuse.

This is part of the organization project “Improved Protection and Quality Education for Migrant and other Marginalised and Vulnerable Children in Ho Chi Minh City, funded by IKEA Foundation.

The project aims to support children’s access to a safe and secure school environment and promote awareness on the children’s rights. Apart from trainings, Save the Children helps the children initiate ideas on building confidential communication channels and extra activities in regards to child protection. The project is being implemented in 16 schools in two districts of Cu Chi and Go Vap until 2016.

From 10-15 November, an IKEA IWitness delegate visited schools under the project as a field-based study tour to see what a difference IKEA’s support makes in the lives of children growing up in some of the world’s poorest communities