Education club is the first model to support parenting skills for parents with children in adolescence. The pilot model was ignited by the Provincial Women’s Unions (WU) of Thai Nguyen, Quang Ninh, Nghe An, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai with technical support from VVOB education program. Starting in 2009 in 10 communes in five provinces, this club model serves as a glass of fresh water for the people here to relieve their thirst for knowledge and parenting skills and support for children’s active learning.
"Each monthly club activity is like a training session for each of us, providing us with specific knowledge and skills to educate our children in general, and to support their learning at home. We then recognize the necessity to share between spouses on child education. We feel less reluctant and unease when talking to or calling the teacher to discuss about school activities"
Realizing the effectiveness of this model, from two pilot clubs initially in each province, Provincial Women's Union has duplicated the model to other districts and communes, bringing the number of Education clubs to 76 clubs in total by end of 2010. Clubs organize communication activities monthly, covering a variety of themes regarding parenting skills.
March 18th, we were invited to attend a club activity in Cai Dan Ward, Song Cong town, Thai Nguyen province. This month, the club promoted a communication pamphlet developed by the Vietnam Ministry of Education (MoET) in collaboration with the United Nations called "Facts on Children and HIV/AIDS."
It was a cold and rainy day. Three VVOB officers together with two guests from Save the Children went on a trip to Cai Dan Ward, non-stop worrying whether such gloomy weather would affect the club activity. But contrary to our dishearten worry, about 50 club members came to the meeting hall with enthusiasm and excitement.
The communication events began with a warm-up activity called “Toss the ball” game where the person the ball fell into would give an introduction about his/herself. Then club members were asked about their opinion of several HIV/AIDS related information.
When the instructor read out a statement, the members would have to choose whether to agree with the statement (these people would move to the left of the MC) or disagree (these people would move to the right of the MC) or not sure (these people would stand still at the original location). Just a simple game with facts and figures, however, under the facilitation of the MC, also the vice president of the club, the room was filled with laughter and excitement. She introduced several facts related to HIV/AIDS that are widely confused and let the club members themselves give judgment. In the second half of the event, club members did a reflection on the past when they felt lonely or marginalized, from which they discussed about stigma and discrimination against children and people with HIV/AIDS. The pamphlet Facts on Children and HIV/AIDS then was introduced. This material by MoET is developed as a communication material for educational administrators, teachers, parents and the community, providing some facts and figures regarding children and HIV/AIDS, to help eliminate the misconceptions and reduce stigma and discrimination against children affected by HIV/AIDS.
