Healthy masculinity encourages boys and young men to demonstrate nurturing, compassion and caring behaviour towards themselves and other gender groups, including women and girls.
This was the message from Ministry of Education permanent secretary Selina Kuruleca during the opening of the two-day Healthy Masculinity for Bully-Free Schools workshop held for the under-18 rugby team of Suva Grammar School on Saturday.
“This program will have created as well enhanced the knowledge of students in areas of conflict-resolutions, conflict preventions and non-violence,” she said.
Ms Kuruleca stated that the program’s main goals were to address the root causes and driving forces of violence, which were destructive masculine ideals instilled in boys at home and rigid patriarchal structures and gender inequalities in socio-cultural contexts.
“Through this initiative today (Saturday), the Ministry of Education is piloting the program.
“The Promoting Healthy Masculinities in Bully Free Schools program involving behavioural and attitudinal change processes, is targeted at reducing the likelihood of perpetration amongst boys and young men and harnessing their positive influence on their male peers, to develop a new generation of respectful, caring and equitable boys and men, not all in Suva Grammar but also throughout Fiji.”
Transcend Oceania, the facilitator of the workshop, plans to roll out this program in other schools in Fiji and has stated that the next phase of the program is to include girls so there can be cross-gender dialogue.
Executive director Adi Vasulevu Merewalesi Levu said this workshop was just the pilot program and hoped this program would be rolled out in other schools in Fiji.
“After this, we hope to roll out in other schools like QVS and other boys’ schools. The next phase of the program, we normally bring in the girls for cross-gender dialogues so boys and girls are learning together,” she said.
