The evaluation of life skills training program in junior high schools

Background &objectives: The aim of this study was evaluation of Life Skills Training Program in junior high school. Materials &Methods: This was a Semi-experimental study. In this relation, from four cities of Kerman, Mashhad , Isfahan and Shiraz , two schools were randomly selected. Girls and boys from experimental schools were compared with those of control schools. Collectively 1428 students were selected. At the end of the educational term, researcherdeveloped questionnaire from educational materials of each class were completed by both of the experimental and control groups. Then knowledge of two groups was analyzed by SPSS-14 software. Results: Our study showed that the effect of life skills training was significant in only one city.In the most cities, the knowledge of girls in the field of life skills was significantly higher than boys (Kerman: 11.12 Vs. 7.5, Mashhad, 11.79 Vs. 10.93, Shiraz 10.33 Vs. 7.06, Isfahan, 15.89Vs. 8.31) and there were siginificant differences between girls and boys in Kerman (F= 52.56, P< 0.01), Shiraz (F= 55.22, P< 0.01), and Isfahan (F= 133.58, P< 0.01). But there was no significant difference in Mashhad. In the most cities, knowledge of life skills of lower grades’ students was significantly higher than students in higher grades. MANOVA revealed that the differences in all cities were significant (Kerman, F= 76.9, , P< 0.01, Shiraz F164.12, P< 0.01, Isfahan F= 54.56, P< 0.01 and Mashhad F= 86/22, P< 0.01). Conclusion: According to the results, there are sexual and developmental differences in life skills training that should be considered. In addition, evaluation of preventive programs as a serious matter is demanded.