During the last few weeks we have been working with
education advice in the girls’ group. There is no education advice in public
schools’ curriculum so the students have little knowledge on the possibilities
they have and the choices they need to make in order to proceed towards the
profession they desire.
We introduced the topic by drawing each one’s future
dreams and sharing them together. The variety of different dream professions
was very narrow due to little knowledge on career possibilities. The most
common dreams were to become a teacher, nurse, doctor or tailor but there were a
few girls mentioning other professions such as police, pilot, tourist guide or
artist. Many of the girls had been inspired by someone they admire in their
living environment, such as a mother or a teacher. Because of this, we decided
to have an overview on the most common professions.
Next, we discussed the possible obstacles the girls might
have on their way towards their dreams. These were mostly school-related. Many
girls lack time or material for studying. Some have dropped out of school. Some
don’t know which subjects to choose to reach their desired profession. There
are also some challenges with the school environment. The distances are often
long and many have to walk even five kilometers one way each schoolday. The
schooldays are long and the schools may not have water, let alone meals. The
class sizes can be even above hundred students and it’s difficult to get a
teacher’s attention.
In order to help the girls to also realize the value of
their own actions and efforts, we then discussed their strengths and possible
next steps towards their dream. This is where dreams develop into plans. Again,
we saw their insecurities in speaking out and expressing their opinions. In
this point, the girls mentioned the importance of studying hard, focusing on
specific subjects, cooperation with fellow students and praying. These
observations were on a rather general level, and thus we encouraged the girls
to further think through their own personal strengths.
This topic needs more attention in the future, but we
hope that after these sessions the girls have at least a bit better picture of
the area of education and maybe some more ideas of the possible career options.
At the moment we are conducting home visits with the girls who have dropped out
of school to support them to create and reach their individual future plan.
Ida Nyroos & Minna Varho
The
writers are Master’s degree social work students from University of Turku in
Finland and are currently doing their internship with Ni Hekima Pekee.