The Regional Mission in Central Asia of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) together with the Ministry of Public Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan launched an online competition "Expert on the Development of Family and Life Skills."

The main purpose of the competition is to disseminate best practices, as well as to improve the skills of psychologists and educators in the public education system, especially classroom leaders, in achieving psychological stability in school and family by teaching young people life skills, healthy lifestyles, positive relationships between parents and children, as well as how to say no to bad habits and how to cope with stress.

The competition will be organized online in three stages through the tv channel @psyforum for school psychologists and teachers and will be based on the materials of the family life skills training program "Close Family - Happy School", which is successfully implemented in the country's schools by the Ministry of Public Education in cooperation with UNODC.

Stages of the competition

Participants will use the curriculum and handouts of the "Close Family - Happy School" training program, which are available on the @psyforum TV channel. They had to be familiarized and tried to use the opportunities in practice until January 10, 2021.

The first stage of the competition will be held in the second decade of January 2021 in the form of an online test on the program "Close Family - Happy School" and its handouts. 100 participants who passed the test with the best results will advance to the second stage.

In the second stage, participants will conduct independent trainings in their educational institutions, where they will work for a month on the basis of the program "Close Family - Happy School" and its handouts in order to apply in practice in their psychological or pedagogical activities. They are expected to present a presentation of 10 slides on their life skills development experience for students and their parents through the Close Family -Happy School program and distributions until 25 February 2021.

Presentations will be posted on the @psyforum TV channel and will be reviewed for evaluation by an expert panel formed by the organizers on a 50-point scale based on criteria such as best use of the program as an additional method, practicality and usefulness, creativity, compliance with the requirements of the program (training in families for three weeks according to the rules and methodology of the program), clarity and promotion. The 13 participants with the highest number of points will be finalists.

In the first decade of March 2021, the finalists will take part in online testing under the program "Close Family - Happy School" and its handouts, and the winners will be determined by the results of testing and the second stage.

Awarding winners

Winners who took the first three places will be awarded with valuable gifts and diplomas "Specialist in the development of family and life skills." The remaining 10 participants will also be awarded with souvenirs and certificates.

Pros

By organizing this competition, the Ministry of Public Education provides an unprecedented opportunity to re-launch the UNODC programme across the country in 2021, encouraging and motivating schoolteachers and psychologists. This competition is more relevant than ever, as the new school semester begins in the new year, proclaimed by the President of the country the Year of Youth Support in Uzbekistan. UNODC's Central Asia Office is pleased to support the Ministry of Public Education in this endeavour and looks forward to the positive results of the competition for schoolchildren and their families, who will be able to start the new year with important new life and family skills that we hope will benefit them and help them to move forward with confidence and happiness.

This event is supported by UNODC's 2015-2021 programme: Prevention, Treatment, Reintegration and Prevention of HIV Infection of the UNODC Programme for Central Asia for 2015-2021 and UNODC's global PROJECT GLOK01 "Preventing Substance Abuse, HIV/AIDS and Youth Crime in Low- and Middle Income Countries through Family Life Training Programs" with support from the UNP/ Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Headquarters.