Happiness Curriculum

With a vision to enhance students’ mindfulness and positive productivity, the happiness curriculum is in action from 2018 in India. Similar to the conventional studies, practice to feel better is equally important. That’s how this curriculum is included at the school level to take care of mental health from childhood. In 2017, the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, suggested the idea of such a curriculum for the children to learn to care for mental health. The basic idea behind such an initiative is to let the children grow safe and sound amidst the complex social problems and threats. In July 2018, this curriculum was launched officially by the 14th Dalai Lama and Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi.

This article will discuss the Happiness curriculum in the context of the IAS Exam.

The candidates can go through the relevant topics useful for their upcoming exams from the links provided below:

How do Happiness Curriculum activities work?

• The curriculum is structured with a committee of 40 professionals, including the top school teachers, psychologists, education consultants, officials, multiple NGO volunteers, and the State Council of Educational Research and Training. All the discussion summed up into a planned syllabus of 25 units containing various modules for students of Nursery to class 8.
• All the schools under the Government of Delhi are currently running this curriculum, and over 16 lakh students are a part of this huge program.
• To learn about the happiness curriculum, the students must follow the philosophy imposed by great thinkers like Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Jiddu Krishnamurthy, Agrahar Nagraj Sarman, etc.
• As a student starts their education journey, they need to learn the fundamentals of emotional science to care for others as well as for themselves. That’s how this happiness curriculum works from the beginning in the elementary level of school.
• As the students proceed academically, they need to learn more about observing body language, exploring their own preferences to find happiness, recognizing physical similarities, etc.
• There are no grades, tests, or formal text-based study processes related to this course. So a student can enjoy and feel the right message through different modules as planned.

Importance of happiness curriculum in India

• This course is as important as any other subject in the formal academic subjects present in school.
• With the pressure a student has to bear through personal expectations and social problems, a healthy way to keep the self joyous is very crucial.
• Also, the happiness curriculum activities not only help an individual to solve his own problems, but to assist someone else with empathy.
• As there’s no grade system associated with the course, the students are free to learn this basic science of the mind at their own pace.
• Moreover, in a country like India, where more than 50% of the population is youth, this curriculum can play a potential role to create a generous society from childhood.

Application and response

• There are many positive responses about the happiness curriculum till now. Not only students but the teachers are getting benefits with this course. As the students are getting more attentive in class, the teachers are also prioritising values over academic success. Several organizations like Le Monde, World Economic Forum, and NPR praised this model of happiness curriculum. Also, states like Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand have adopted the idea of the happiness model. Also, countries like Afghanistan, Nepal, and UAE are influenced by this idea and are about to implement the same.
• The happy curriculum in India is a pioneer in building fundamental awareness of mindfulness and social-emotional learning. However, there was a long gap in the pandemic situation. With a long future goal of developing a positive generation in this country, this curriculum would be a huge advantage for the students.

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