A ray of hope for inclusion

The Ray programme is aimed at teenage boys who for various reasons feel left out or find it difficult to cope and integrate with the rest of the class in a mainstream classroom environment.

The fact that these students feel they do not belong and are hence excluded gives rise to a pattern of low self-esteem, lack of academic achievement, a general disenchantment with learning, undesired behaviour, delinquency and crime.

The programme aims to nip in the bud these feelings of low self-esteem and rejection using sessions based on three non-formal learning experiences: sports and adventure activities, including trust exercises, philanthropic activities with young children, and work orientation experiences.

It was first conceived in 1997 at St Patrick's boys' craft centre, St Andrew's, led by Emanuel D'Emanuele, officer in charge at the time. The environment provided at the centre seemed more attractive to students who could not find their feet in mainstream classrooms and yielded more positive results when compared with the other more traditional approaches to education. It could clearly be seen that when different educational strategies were used, certain students were benefiting more, because they enjoyed them more.

Ray was launched as a pilot project at two state boys' secondary schools in 2006. At St Nicholas College's Boys' Secondary School, Mtarfa, it progressed well with a group of 19 Form 3 students up to Form 5, while at the other school it was discontinued. During the 2008-2009 scholastic year the programme was initiated at St Ignatius College's Boys' Secondary School, Ħandaq, with 24 Form 1 and Form 2 students, and another four students at the same college's Boys' Secondary School, Żebbuġ, progressed through work orientation experiences.

Ray is evaluated at the end of each academic year. This year, the two groups of Form 1 and Form 2 students taking part in the programme at St Ignatius College Boys' Secondary School, Ħandaq, were invited for an evaluation exercise.

Ninety-one per cent of the students took part in the evaluation, of which 85 per cent felt their academic performance had improved and 75 per cent admitted that their behaviour was judged to be more desirable by their teachers. The participants said the programme helped them in a variety of ways, such as boosting their self-esteem, in socialising, and in trusting people who are trustworthy.

Ray is based on a bottom-up management structure where ideas to enhance students' abilities are initiated by the students themselves. The programme is designed in such a way that it empowers the students to take control of their education process, hence its motto 'Discovering good qualities by empowering people'.

It uses the world of work as one of its most important tools to achieve this goal by making the commercial community at large an extension of the classroom. In this way, partnerships are built between the school and the community.

Research shows that sports and adventure activities help to satisfy the craving for thrill-seeking that may be more predominant in some teenage boys than in others. These students have to be directed towards those activities that, while satisfying their craving for thrills, provide a sociable acceptable alternative.

Such activities in the programme included sailing, shooting, bowling and go-carting. Trust exercises are also practised to communicate the message to the students that the teacher is there for support, 24/7, not just during school hours.

Philanthropic activities with young children were held at kindergarten centres that form part of state colleges. Activities were also carried out to assist Sharemalta's venture to provide shelter to stray cats at Mdina.

Through work orientation experiences, the student gets a taste of the world of work and observes the relationship between school life and the work environment. These one-week-long experiences, which are certified by a letter of recommendation, were held at various commercial establishments.

To contact Mr Attard, e-mail joseph.m.attard@gov.mt.

Mr Attard is a teacher at St Ignatius College.