Male Empowerment Programme to be jumpstarted

Since 2012, the Catholic Board of Education’s (CBE) Male Empowerment Programme’s (MEP) objectives have been to foster male-friendly school environments; adequately meet the needs of the male learner and restore the educational balance; address issues faced by males at the primary and secondary school levels; and create opportunities for the spiritual and social development of male students.

During the 2019-2020 academic year, the program abruptly ended when schools closed to face-to-face learning due to the first case of COVID-19 being confirmed in The Bahamas on March 15. Since then, and with the advent of the new school year, the program’s coordinators have been in the process of restructuring the program so that it will be better suited for execution via a virtual format.

For the first time since its inception, MEP was put on hold as coordinators deliberated with school guidance counselors on how to proceed going forward on a virtual platform with the program, which seeks to provide students with positive experiences in social relationships towards development of their communication skills, and improve other relationships in their lives.

“Since schools closed [on March 15], it really presented a challenge for the coordinators for the program in terms of continuing with the weekly sessions, which were in-person and matters of a personal, private nature would be discussed,” said Crystal Green-Woods, program coordinator and Catholic Education Center special projects officer.

With schools now on the virtual platform, Green-Woods says they have been looking at how to accommodate the program virtually, taking into account, confidentiality and the privacy factor has now become an issue.

“If a young man is in his home, we don’t know who is listening in … and it’s literally open to the world when you communicate in a virtual platform, so the decision was made to temporarily halt the program, and we are literally in the process of deliberating with the guidance departments on moving forward.”

Green-Woods said they have worked on a tentative reboot date, but know that they won’t be able to do weekly virtual meetings.

“I met with our counselors and we’re going to shift it [counseling sessions] and limit the counseling sessions and go to more broader topics that would be relevant to young men, and bring in speakers to speak to them.”

The male mentoring program caters to male students in grades four through six in primary schools and grades 10 through 12 in high schools.

Males that take advantage of the program are boys who are in need of a positive role model; boys who could benefit from improved social engagement with peers; and any young man who is in need of a listening ear.

“It’s not a bad boys club,” said Green-Woods. “It’s not, you’re acting up and we send you to Male Empowerment.”

The program seeks to reduce the disparity in the social and academic performance of males and females by catering to issues specific to the male learner, restoring the educational balance and facilitating male-friendly school environments.

MEP is comprised of three main components: workshops and sensitivity training for teachers, administrators and guidance counselors; mentoring programs in all Catholic schools and technical/vocational training; and sporting programs for students enrolled in MEP.

The last school year saw 230 students in eight schools enrolled in MEP, which is active in all CBE schools.

CBE has oversight for Aquinas College, New Providence; Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Academy, Grand Bahama; St. Francis de Sales School, Abaco; St. Cecilia’s School, New Providence; Sts. Francis & Joseph School, New Providence; St. Thomas More School, New Providence, Xavier’s Lower School, New Providence; and Every Child Counts, Abaco.

The program at schools on Grand Bahama and Abaco were suspended after the passage of the deadly Hurricane Dorian on the two islands in September 2019.

MEP eligible students include boys who exhibit confidence issues, appear withdrawn, or lack positive role models. Administrators, teachers and counselors recommend students who they feel will benefit most from and are best suited for the program.

Green-Woods said there have been instances when a parent has asked for their son to be enrolled in the program if they need a positive male figure in their life.

MEP was the brainchild of Archbishop Patrick Pinder, and was established to address the challenges faced by young men in The Bahamas. Male students enrolled in Catholic schools are the target.

“We were approached by archbishop, who was concerned about what he saw happening in society in general and thought it important to offer something in schools for our male learners,” said Green-Wood who has been with the program since inception.

“We did research about how males learn differently from females, and in the research we found we send so many messages to our young men. Most traditional schools are led by females, so you have a young man who comes from a household led by a female, goes to school where the principal is a female and 90 percent of teachers are females, so we found we were sending a strong message to our males [that] schools can be female-dominated. The program was established to restore educational balance.”

Feedback, she said they’ve gotten from the boys, shows that they have an appreciation for MEP and the impact the program made on them.

“We try to do [a lock-in weekend] at Aquinas College on an annual basis where we bring all the boys together and even brought in young men from Abaco, and listening to their testimonials, literally brought me to tears, how impactful it was to have people listening to things important to them, and to not feel judged,” said Green-Woods.

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