PESHAWAR, July 17: Adolescents studying in schools and seminaries should be equipped with life skills-based education so that they could safeguard themselves against physical abuse, domestic violence and drug addiction, said educationists from public and private schools at a workshop here on Tuesday.

Teachers, students and media persons gathered here for a capacity-building workshop organised by the Pakistan Village Development Programme (PVDP), during which they underlined the need for each stakeholder to play a role in creating awareness about vital issues among students.

The life skills-based education (LSBE) project was kicked off in 2001 and it is being implemented with the help of teachers in 65 schools and one madressah in the Peshawar district.

Some 8,000 young boys and girls have been taught about sexual behaviour, self-confidence, communication skills, decision-making and other issues relating to their adolescent periods through involvement of teachers, said Robina, the project coordinator.

Young girls and boys in schools started sharing their problems with their teachers through letters, seeking solutions for various problems they faced when the project started a few years ago, said Shahida Nameer, a teacher for a government high school.

“Young students often come to us perturbed by violence at home and misunderstandings with their parents. Many of them complain of abuse by their close male relatives but they don’t know who to share their problem with and where to go to seek help and support,” said Ms Shahida.

Fauzia Stephen, a student of ninth class in the Saint Cathedral School, Peshawar, said she used to be very shy and initially could not share her problems with anyone, but LSBE classes had made her self-confident. “I still feel a bit shy in putting questions on sensitive issues to my male teachers,” she observed.

Adil, her classfellow, said that boys of his age had problems such as anger management and drugs but at the LSBE, “our teacher told us how to avoid these problems.”