The Department of Social Welfare and Development enhances its Family Development Sessions (FDS), one of the conditionalites under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, by adding a new set of module which is focused on empowering its youth beneficiaries.

Pilot test of the YDS was done in Alibadabab National High School, San Mariano, Isabela wherein around 30 high school students participated.

The Youth Development Session (YDS) is an enhancement to the FDS which aims to educate the youth beneficiaries currently enrolled in high school about the changes they go through as adolescents and how they can handle these changes effectively. It caters to the recent expansion of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) which now includes youth beneficiaries aged 15-18 years old.

The DSWD hopes to increase the rate of high school graduates per household under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program by developing a positive mind-set on the youth through the YDS. Included in the YDS module are activities which will allow the youth beneficiaries to understand their changing bodies, minds, emotions, and roles in the society.

Furthermore, the YDS will also focus on encouraging the youth to appreciate their self-worth, define their identity, and achieve healthy body image and lifestyle.

Part of the module is to conduct the sessions in a fun and hands-on manner to capture the youth beneficiaries’ interest and encourage them to participate.

Topics that will be tackled in the session are about adolescence, learning to value themselves, personality, skills, and even responsible parenting.

The YDS was formulated June this year and is set to be launched this August. Like the FDS, the YDS is to be conducted once a month and will be used as a conditionality for the program. For region 02, there are 219, 833 beneficiaries aged 15-18 for the program. The sessions are also expected to decrease the number of out-of-school youth in the region. ###By MARICEL B. ASEJO, Information Officer II-Pantawid Pamilya