Almaty social teachers learn to work with parents of at risk adolescents

ISEM project "TEENS: available and high-quality assistance" holds a training course in Almaty on October 5-10 within the second stage of testing the program of advanced training of state specialists working with parents of adolescents at risk.

"The program of professional development of specialists teachers, psychologists, and social teachers providing state consulting services to families on the basis of schools was developed in cooperation with international experts and is undergoing the second stage of testing. Classes will be held by international coaches, experts in the field, Israeli experts Gila Petrov and Moti Pikelner, selected as a result of long-term analytical and negotiation work," the release says.

The first module of the seminar was held in Almaty on 6-12 April. After that, the participants of the seminar held weekly meetings of parents ' groups in 15 schools of Almaty. In addition, in September, the team OF "Women's leadership Fund" and a representative of the Ministry of education of Kazakhstan went on a training tour to Israel, where they saw how to work with adolescents at risk.

The October training course is attended by employees of public schools, who have passed the first stage of training and conducted practical work with parents on the program, representatives of the Department of Education of Almaty, the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan.

According to the study, 82% of Kazakh families are unable to get affordable high-quality public service for psychological assistance, although they need it. This situation is largely due to the lack of expertise in the prevention of suicidal behavior on the ground, which in turn is due to the lack of appropriate training programmes and in-country expertise in this area.

Meanwhile, according to official statistics, Kazakhstan ranks 2nd among the countries of the world in terms of suicide among young people and adolescents, and the first among girls aged 15-19 years. This problem is being solved in a complex way within the framework of a specialized state program, part of which is the TEENS project. 

The Women's Leadership Fund within the framework of the program " Good Governance Initiative Fund " with the support of USAID and "Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia" implements the project "TEENS: affordable and high-quality assistance."

The purpose of this project is to strengthen the preventative component of the state program for the prevention of suicide among adolescents and young people through mechanisms of civic participation.