Rainbow project officially launched at Plaisance primary school |31 January 2015

The Plaisance primary school has officially become a member of the Rainbow project.

The project was launched by Sarah Rene, the chairperson of Care (Committee for Awareness, Resilience and Education against substance abuse) during a ceremony at the school in the presence of Rotary Club district governor Allen Topsy. The local Rotary Club coco de mer is providing financial assistance to the programme.

Also present were the principal secretary for education Merida Delcy; Plaisance primary school’s headteacher Sabrina Agathine; officials of Care and of Rotary Club, teachers and children themselves.

The Rainbow programme is a comprehensive intervention project aimed at reducing the behavioural effects of social, psychological and/or physical problems of young children who are identified as displaying inappropriate behaviour in primary schools.

Care offers a wide range of services for different target groups, addressing a variety of issues including social ills, interpersonal skills, anger management, relationship, awareness, education and community intervention.

In her address to the children, Mrs Rene advised them on the importance of prevention regarding drug abuse as it is better not to start using it than trying to get out of it which is really difficult.

She told them that drug will always be there as it is almost impossible to get rid of it in society, so its better to say NO to it.

“As those who seek treatment generally fall back into using the substance as it is quite difficult not too, the best thing to do is not to use it,” Mrs Rene urged the kids. She told them that’s the reason behind the Rainbow project.

She said a pilot project started in three schools and it has been very successful. “We have successfully prevented quite a percentage of potentially at risk children from falling victims to drug abuse,” she said, mentioning success rates in Mont Fleuri, La Retraite, Cascade and Bel Ombre where work is still ongoing.

“Therefore the Rainbow programme we are introducing in schools will make you resilient even if the risk factors are increasing. Rest assured that it will make quite a difference in children who are developing behavioural problems,” said Mrs Rene.

As for headteacher Agathine, she said children experience various things in life both good and bad. Bad things affect them which in turn make them develop bad behavioural habits. These habits affect them, their learning, the life of their colleagues and their teachers’.

“We are convinced that it is our duty as educators to support these children so they can correct those bad behaviour and offer them the opportunity to develop their good qualities which have been hidden by bad life experiences,” she said.

She said that the programme  equips the children with tools that allow them to resist bad temptations and develop this resilience which will deter them from society’s bad influences.

As the task is quite daunting and cannot be achieved on their own, Ms Agathine said it is for this reason that the school works in partnership with Care to introduce the Rainbow project.

She also informed the kids that change will take time but with determination, patience, commitment, love of the teachers, support from Care and the community, they will succeed.

Mr Topsy told the children that it is always easier to do bad things than good ones. So he urged them all to adopt good habits and that the ‘Rainbow’ continues to shed its light on all of them.

Samantha Sultan, a parent whose child has gone through the Rainbow project, said her child has developed positive attitudes and it is now easy for them to communicate and better interact with one another.

The project has also helped her develop social skills and self-esteem, she said.

It is to be noted that the Rainbow project was already being implemented in Plaisance school but was not yet officially launched.
The ceremony ended with a song from the school choir entitled ‘Rainbow’.