Project Reach graduates urged to reject bullying, uplift peers

A skit on the devastating effects of bullying took centre stage as students graduated from Project Reach, a Ministry of Education-backed initiative praised by Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw for its alignment with Barbados’s education transformation agenda.

Archer-Bradshaw challenged students to carry forward the life skills learned—self-awareness, empathy, and collaboration—while sending a strong message condemning bullying in all forms, online and offline.

Speaking during the closing ceremony of the two-week programme held at Harrison College on Thursday, she highlighted the initiative’s role in equipping students with critical life skills such as self-awareness, empathy and collaboration.

“Project Reach is an initiative of the secondary school counsellors’ programme, which, since its inception in November 2021, has executed a range of activities aimed at providing social skills, behaviour improvement and coping strategies across 12 secondary schools in Barbados,” she said.

This year’s programme engaged 49 first- and second-form students drawn from those 12 institutions. Led by school counsellors and other trained facilitators, students participated in a series of workshops and interactive sessions designed to foster emotional intelligence and positive decision-making.

“I know that most of you had fun during these past two weeks…. A few of you may have had challenges as well. Yet your experiences combined have exposed you to very important life lessons. You have learned the value of making good choices and the consequences of poor ones,” Archer-Bradshaw told the graduating cohort.

She encouraged students to carry these lessons beyond the school compound: “Transfer these skills not only immediately but for life—at home, at school, and in all your social spaces. Learning doesn’t only happen in the classroom. Learning spaces can be anywhere.”

Dr Archer-Bradshaw also took the opportunity to address the issue of bullying, particularly in online spaces: “When I look across society today, I see a lot of bullying happening online, not only with children—it happens with adults too. We have to cut it out. It doesn’t help to build anybody.”

Reinforcing the ministry’s vision, she said: “We believe that Barbados can have the number one education system in the world because we want to create the number one citizen in the world. But we must first decide who we want to be. Bullying isn’t it. Bad mind isn’t it. Pulling down others isn’t it.”

Project Reach, now in its third year, forms part of the ministry’s summer activities and reflects its strategic focus on improving students’ access to support services.

According to Dr Archer-Bradshaw, the presence of dedicated counsellors in schools is helping to meet the psychosocial needs of students through both individual and group interventions.

“As part of the Ministry of Educational Transformation, this initiative is a direct response to our goal of creating a fair, inclusive, relevant and modern education system. And we will continue to work towards this transformation, one student at a time.” she said.

(SB)