New Delhi: There is a need to push for emotional well-being into the domains of learning and mainstream subjects. This was stated by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in a conversation about mental health and socio-emotional learning during the Harvard Social Enterprise Conference.
“There has always been a dire need to inculcate resilience in our daily lives through education. During the pandemic, staying at home was in itself a huge trauma. Children faced immense loss of learning, there was a looming uncertainty regarding the future and many people lost their jobs. These were tough times for all and resilience played a key role here,” said Sisodia.
Deliberating upon the innovations spearheaded by Delhi government for mental health and well-being, Sisodia said, “When the need for well-being emerged, we developed the Happiness Curriculum and encouraged students and teachers to practise mindfulness. The objective was to develop self-awareness, inculcate skills of critical thinking and inquiry, enable learners to communicate effectively and help children apply life skills to deal with stressful and conflicting situations around them.”
“Another initiative to develop resilient children is the Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum. Irrespective of what children pursue, we want them to think like entrepreneurs — willing to dream big, try new and challenging goals, be able to recognise opportunities around, and then plan and execute to bring them to fruition,” said the deputy CM.
Speaking about the key elements that need to be changed or introduced in public education, the deputy CM said, “The biggest takeaway from the pandemic for our public education has been that technology is here to stay. We need to quickly adapt to and encourage the use of technology.” Pointing towards Delhi’s first virtual school model, he added that it would carry the hallmarks of any regular government school in the city.
“Leadership has to involve stakeholders. Our leadership is not top-down, but more collaborative. For example, for developing the Happiness Curriculum, our teachers had a big role to play and their recommendations were heard,” said Sisodia.
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