Basma Society for Culture and Arts successfully concluded its "WeMatch"
Gaza, September 3, 2023 – Basma Society for Culture and Arts successfully concluded its "WeMatch" capacity-building program for teachers in government schools in the northern Gaza region. The program, which saw the participation of 32 teachers, ran for 19 days from August 10, 2023, to September 3, 2023, encompassing a total of 150 diverse training hours. This initiative is part of a broader project titled "Enhancing the Effectiveness of Non-curricular Drama Activities in Northern Gaza Government Schools through Gaza Kids Theatre Club," implemented by the Basma Society for Culture and Arts in partnership with the Belgian development agency Enable and funded by the Belgian government.
Notably, the "WeMatch" program consists of three key components:
1. Manufacturing and Manipulating of Big-Mouth Puppet and Marionette Training: Participants received 72 hours of training to acquire skills in puppetry and puppet manipulation, enabling them to use puppets as educational tools in non-curricular activities.
2. Children Drama Guidebook: Basma Society provided a guide for children's drama, focusing on psychosocial support, helping teachers enhance their skills and knowledge in using drama as an educational tool in non-curricular activities.
3. Adapting the School's PsychoSocial Interventions by Integrating Puppet Theater: This component includes updating teachers' knowledge about referral systems, and group counseling. Also, it aims to adapt the current Ministry of Education's curriculum in schools to include puppet theater through the Gaza Kids Theatre Club. Participants received training on applying the skills they acquired in the program to implement the exercises outlined in the Ministry's psychosocial intervention and integrate puppet theater into this plan.
At the program's conclusion, Nahid Hannouna, the project coordinator, expressed his admiration for the dedicated efforts and praised the development achieved by the participants. One of the participating teachers mentioned that the program had positively impacted the development of their skills and abilities in delivering knowledge engagingly and innovatively to children. He emphasized the importance of continuous learning and professional development.
Basma Society for Culture and Arts aims to support and enhance the Palestinian education system by improving the quality of education through this training.
