The Binti Shupavu Curriculum is designed to meet secondary school girls’ needs for the four years of lower secondary school. The Binti Shupavu Mentors facilitate classes in five key curriculum areas:
- Internal Motivation and Personal Leadership
- Health and Wellness
- Studying Skills
- Developing Your Potential
- Strength and Resilience
The Mentors have a lot of interaction with the Scholars as there are two Binti Shupavu Classes running separately in one day in each school in 2017. Next year, the program will be working at full steam, with twice the number of Mentors working in four classes in each school each day.
Each of the five topics listed above have five separate lessons, so we are proud to say that 25 weekly Binti Shupavu lessons are taught each year in each of the classes.
Alongside Binti Shupavu Classes are the Binti Shupavu Seminar Sessions. In every year of a Scholar’s involvement in the program, she must attend a total number of five Binti Shupavu Seminars facilitated by Binti Shupavu Project Managers. These Seminar Sessions are designed to introduce the topic and briefly explain the related lessons of the topic. The Seminars are also an opportunity for Binti Shupavu Scholars from different grade levels to learn together, bond and develop a sense of identity.
Ideally, we wanted all four Binti Shupavu Classes at a school to attend the Seminars together. However, since one Binti Shupavu Class consists of 30 to 40 Scholars and because of the small learning spaces available in many schools, it is only possible to combine two classes for a Seminar. Therefore, for each topic, we will have to run two seminars at each school. Here are a few thoughts on the Binti Shupavu Seminar Sessions.
‘’Seminars help me to recognize what will be taught in the next lessons and get different knowledge.’’ Binti Shupavu Scholar
‘’Seminar Sessions are helpful because they explain the topic in a broad sense. This makes the lessons more likely to be understood by Scholars.’’ Binti Shupavu Mentor
‘’Seminar Sessions provide room for Scholars to enjoy, because it is a different learning style from the traditional learning style. Mixing the Scholars during the seminar works as a motivation for all the girls.’’ Binti Shupavu Mentor
‘’I enjoy the Seminar Sessions I run. Apart from its major goal which is introducing the topic, I take it as an opportunity to meet and get to know Scholars, applause them for their accomplishments, and encourage them to work harder towards their life goals.’’ Binti Shupavu Project Manager
As the Binti Shupavu Classes finish at the end of this year, a total number of 50 Seminar Sessions have been delivered to all ten Partner Schools. The sessions went well, and are so popular that up to 60, and even 80, students attend each session. This large number has caused a challenge for the Mentors and students alike, who struggle to focus on topics that are discussed. To address, this problem the class Mentors have assisted with the seminars, answering questions, co-facilitating and addressing classroom distractions. Working as a team, we ensure the young women are able to get the most out of the sessions.
