IMPACT Justice on Saturday 13th October 2018 held a certificate presentation ceremony for Restorative Practices Trainers along with the official launch of the St. Vincent & the Grenadines Restorative Practices Committee.
One of the ways the Project has sought to reach this objective is through the promotion of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques to assist persons in resolving their disputes.
The ADR mechanisms focused on by the project is Restorative Practices, which has proven to be effective in addressing instances of violence and conflict within schools.
Between 2014 and 2018, IMPACT Justice has sponsored training in Restorative Practices in 9 of the 13 CARICOM Member States in which the Project is being implemented and hundreds of principals, deputy principals, guidance counsellors, teachers, education officers and parents have been certified as restorative practitioners.
From the group of persons trained, IMPACT Justice selected 17 persons from across the region to be trained as Restorative Practices Trainers.
On October 13th, the first 5 of the 17 persons being trained as trainers received their Restorative Practices Trainer Certificates. These persons are:
- Ms. Patricia Warner, Senior Education Officer, Ministry of Education, Barbados
- Ms. Julia Edey, Guidance Counsellor, Parkinson Memorial Secondary School, Barbados;
- Mr. Ken Layne, Deputy Principal, Daryll Jordan Secondary School, Barbados
- Ms. Gloria Lewis, Teacher, TA Marryshow Community College, Grenada
- Mrs. Ann Hamilton-Dopwell, Lecturer, Division of Education, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College.
Following the presentation of the certificates, there was an official launch of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Restorative Practices Committee which will be chaired by Mrs. Ann Hamilton-Dopwell.
The mandate of this committee will be to, inter alia, support the development of restorative practices in schools and improve the quality and scope of restorative practices in St. Vincent and the Grenadines by developing and supporting practitioners through co-operation, networking and information sharing.
Professor Velma Newton, Regional Project Director of the IMPACT Justice Project chaired the proceedings.
