July 2012 APR Workshop on Community-Based Scouting The World Organization of the Scout Movement/Asia-Pacific Region, in collaboration with the Bharat Scouts & Guides, is inviting Community-Based Coordinators and key leaders from the Asia-Pacific Region to discuss, share experiences, policies and achievements on how Community-Based Scouting is being implemented in their respective Scout associations. Full time executives responsible for youth programme activities are also welcome. The workshop will be held in Dhanraj Baid Jain College in Thorappakkam, Chennai, India. The Asia-Pacific Regional office urges all NSOs to nominate participants to take part in the workshop by filling in the reply slip and sending it to World Scout Bureau/ Asia-Pacific Region. For more information about the APR Workshop on Community-Based Scouting, visit this link at APR website, Community-Based Scouting
Essence of CBS in Hong Kong The “School Based Scouting” in Hong Kong (and to a large extent also in Singapore, Macau and to some degree India) is in essence “Community Based Scouting” in that: 1. The School is only a “Sponsoring Authority” or lately in the POR described as “Sponsor” which provides the venue and facilities for Scout meetings outside school hours and usually on Saturday afternoon. Schools are always the centre and focal point of the Youth, not Church groups or other community centres in the very developed and densely populated urban society of Hong Kong 2. Scouting is not a curriculum in school but an extra curriculum pursuit, activity or club like “Legion of Mary”, “Chess Club”, “Red Cross Cadet”, “Stamp Club” or “Computer Club” etc. A student is free to join and is never compulsory. 3. Scout Leaders are warranted by the Scout Association of Hong Kong on the recommendation of GSL and a representative of the Sponsor (Sponsoring Authority) and are not limited to teachers of the school. In most School Groups, old boys are the leaders who are alumni and scouts of the school. In many groups the GSLs and other troop leaders are high profile, successful old boys in the community who are scouts of that group since student days. There are also parents. 4. The school (sponsor) welcomes those appointments as a continuation of the alumni and Parents-Teachers' activities and is also seen as an uplift of the profile of the School concerned because of the high social standing of these alumni. Most of the successful “school based” scout groups are run in this mode. 5. The Sponsors (schools) also welcome this mode because it is often the case that these Alumni leaders and Group Council members are financially sound and are often more than prepared to shoulder the financial support of these School Based Groups thereby taking such burden away from the sponsor (which under the Memoranda of Agreement with SAHK they have an obligation). 6. The only limitation is that the membership of the group is limited to the students of that school.
How the Bharat Scouts & Guides create awareness through CBS programme For effective implementation of any awareness campaign, the Bharat Scouts & Guides organizes an orientation for its members about the subject or project on which they are going to act. They should be aware of the problems in society caused by a disease or a situation, which is being addressed by the campaign. In case of disease, the Scouts should be made aware of how the disease is caused and the symptoms. The methodology of the campaign depends on various factors such as the area to be covered, the population, the educational background of the people living in the area, economic conditions