Day 30 – Q 3.The Delhi Government has started a happiness curriculum to supplement the regular curriculum. What are your views on this innovative step? Should it be replicated across the country? Comment.

3. The Delhi Government has started a happiness curriculum to supplement the regular curriculum. What are your views on this innovative step? Should it be replicated across the country? Comment. 

दिल्ली सरकार ने नियमित पाठ्यक्रम के पूरक के लिए एक खुशी पाठ्यक्रम शुरू किया है। इस अभिनव कदम पर आपके क्या विचार हैं? क्या इसे पूरे देश में दोहराया जाना चाहिए? टिप्पणी दें।

Introduction:

To create a happy environment, in recent years, many countries like Bhutan, South Korea, UK etc have made happiness either a specific goal of their education and development policies or have included elements relating to happiness in their policy framework. In this backdrop, a new initiative by the Delhi Government that introduces the ‘Happiness curriculum’ in schools is an innovative and a welcome step.

Body:

Affirmative implications of the Happiness Curriculum:

• Strengthen the inculcation of sound values: This curriculum is based on human-centric education which includes meditation, value education and mental exercises and will be purely activity-based without formal exams, thus encouraging students towards value building.
• Self-awareness and resilience: The curriculum aims to stimulate self-awareness and a good mental health and character. This will go a long way in the child’s performance in school and daily life. This will also contribute to a higher emotional quotient among the children.
• Reduce anxiety, depression, and intolerance among students: With an alarming increasing rate of suicides among school children – (Between 2014 and 2016, more than 26,000 students committed suicide, of which around 30 percent were due to exam failure) there is an urgent need to help students cope with the pressure of success and failure and take cognitive decisions. The happiness period is a big step in this direction.
• Healthy childhood leads to healthy future: A healthy and wholesome childhood, happy school life and a sound mindset goes a long way in creating a solid foundation for the youth of the country. This will invariably lead to a productive and strong growth of the young population ready to face the world and build a life.
• Improved academic performance: Research shows that a happy child performs better than his peers under pressure, and is able to accept both wins and losses with humility and sportively.
• Increases interactive people skills: Helps shy, introvert students shed their inhibitions and learn to be friendlier.

Need for the Happiness Curriculum across the country:

• As per the World Happiness Report, 2019, India ranked 140 out of 156 countries evaluated. The report calls for an environment in India which keeps people happy. It only reiterates the fact that India needs a well-being fused system of development for a better performance and education with a friendly touch is a much-needed reform in this regard.
• All over India, instances of suicide and succumbing to pressures of failures are on the rise. A uniform comprehensive happiness curriculum will ensure overall growth in the demographic dividend of the country.

• Feeling good about oneself and our place in the world–is the foundation on which great lives and great achievements are built. Adolescent mental health is a major factor that contributes to the youngsters’ lifestyle and choices and a wellbeing induced education system is the most effective way to influence that.
• Failure to promote good mental health not only ruins lives, it costs the economy. Happiness curriculum will improve the deteriorating mental health and cut down the nation’s mental health bill for years to come and also play a major role in the efficiency of the future economic contributors of India.

Concerns and a way forward:

• Efficient and conducive training to teachers must be given and the education models followed must be revised and evaluated regularly so that that innovative step does not die a mere experiment.
• Uniformity of the curriculum in all schools whether private or government-aided to ensure that all youngsters get the right idea of happiness and builds a strong cognitive ability.
• Make it a purely activity based, interesting session so as to encourage students to be active participants and not treat it as another school ‘burden’ that increases stress.

Conclusion:

School is the place where children inculcate an academic environment and also indulge in their all-round development, and this has a greater impact in learners’ lives in the long run. Thus it is non-negotiable to create a happy environment from early childhood in all schools of India.