“It is a real eye-opener to look at children’s behaviour and sexual development from a development perspective,” says Jing Sinkiat. “An online training course is naturally a great challenge, but this course from AMG was more than worth it. I recommend it to anyone who works with children.”
During eight sessions, Driestar Christian University for Teacher Education (DCU) trains 40 center heads of AMG Philippines. The training is coordinated by INCE Product & Solution Delivery. AMG is a Gospel-first global ministry that meets the deepest needs — spiritual and physical — by inspiring hope, restoring lives and transforming communities.
We adapted the initial training in the Philippines into an online training program. The theme is: Teaching Life Skills and Sex Education from Developmental Perspective. Consultants of DCU had written a review report on the program of AMG and were quite familiar with the content.
After their training, the center heads will train their own staff in the centers. To ensure the participants take in all the information, we give them pre- and post-assignments, short videos before and after the sessions, among other things. In addition, a local moderator will be in attendance.
The training is funded by Nuffic, a Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education.
The Education Program Coordinator of AMG, Jing Sinkiat, shares her view of the training from the perspective of AMG. Jing takes part in the sessions herself:
"During this pandemic, virtual or online training courses give a lot of challenges. Internet connections can be a big challenge since more people are using the internet due to the lockdown.
However, we are glad that our Life Skills and Sex Education in the development perspective training is moving as planned for 8 training days using the virtual platform. Participants have learned to use technology, being participative during the training - interacting with the course instructors/facilitators, completing offline assignments individually and in groups, learning to create videos or powerpoint presentations, sharing experiences working with children, and a lot more. The content of the training has been thought of carefully and has opened the minds of the participants in understanding behavior of children using their "development eyes or glasses" and learning how to deal with them in a development manner. It is highly recommended that development workers working with children should have this training."
