SCHOOL MEDIATION

WHAT IS SCHOOL MEDIATION?

School mediation is a program designed to provide children with the skills and knowledge they need to resolve disputes in a peaceful and constructive manner, and to help them understand the importance of effective communication, negotiation, and compromise when resolving conflicts. The school mediation programme is implemented via Mediation Programme Officers in provinces and districts across the country and serves to enable the youth of tomorrow to actively participate as citizens and community leaders in the area of conflict resolution.

BACKGROUND

Mediation is a proven dispute resolution mechanism that utilizes communication as a tool to settle disputes. In an effort to promote personal and social development among school children, and to enhance their understanding of established Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques, the Ministry of Education together with the Ministry of Justice introduced a pilot project that exposed 30 selected schools to the art of mediation in 2004. In line with the project objective, schools set up “School Mediation Units” – and upon the success of the pilot, this programme was then rolled out on a national scale and implemented by the Presidential Secretariat.

School Mediation Units have been successfully established in approximately 350 schools since 2005. Research dating as far back as 2018 shows that the school mediation project actively engaged 85 schools at the time, and 96 schools in 2019.

OBJECTIVES

Primary Objective

To create a coexistent society through schools that ensures a peaceful learning environment and encounters minimal conflicts.

Secondary Objectives

  • To create a more secured school environment with minimal conflicts where minor disputes are to be resolved by students themselves.
  • To introduce the concept of mediation to students through shared values and provide practical and theoretical knowledge related to mediation.
  • To encourage students to represent the local mediation boards as mediators.