Generations For Peace school programme concludes

AMMAN — The Generations For Peace Jordan Schools Programme, a 12-month pilot project focusing on reducing violence in classrooms, concluded on Monday.

More than 200 students and 20 teachers from four schools in Ruseifa and Sahab in northern Amman participated in the initiative, receiving training on nonviolent conflict transformation skills.

“The success we are seeing is due to the leadership and commitment shown by the minister of education, Dr Mohammad Thneibat, and his team, by the teachers in each school, and by the students themselves,” HRH Prince Feisal, founder and chairman of Generations For Peace, said at a ceremony to mark the project’s conclusion.

“We must also thank the US embassy for their generous funding support to make this pilot programme possible. The programme is making a real and tangible impact on the participants’ lives, and we now plan to build on this success,” he added.

Speaking at the ceremony, US Ambassador to Jordan Alice Wells said: “This programme demonstrates the real promise of our commitment to work with citizens, making positive change in communities across Jordan.” 

“I am grateful to the staff who facilitated this programme; to the teachers who worked so hard to educate their students on nonviolent conflict transformation; and to the students and parents whose enthusiastic participation made this programme possible,” Wells added.

In a video screened at the ceremony, students, teachers and parents who were involved in the programme highlighted the effect it has had on their daily lives.

“Before [the project], I used to get sent to the social worker up to four or five times a day because of swearing and other acts of violence that students do in the school,” said Hussein Obied, a student at Al Mamoun School For Boys.

“Now, I hope that all the troublemaking students who haven’t yet participated in this programme, can take part and change, the same way I have.”

Also at the ceremony, students performed a play depicting the reasons for violence in schools and the way to resolve it.

The programme had a positive impact not only on students but also on teachers, according to Jumana Al Aqili, a participating teacher at Princess Taghreed Secondary School For Girls.

“I was quite surprised... with the way I treated my students. Even the way I look at my students and myself has changed,” Aqili said. 

“I am not just here to teach an educational subject. Through this programme, I found out that I have creativity that I didn’t know existed,” she added.

The project was supported by the US Middle East Partnership Initiative, a US government programme that supports the efforts of community organisations and individuals to create positive change in their societies.

At the end of the ceremony Prince Feisal presented participants with trophies and certificates.