International Inventive Multidisciplinary Journal.

ISSN- 23487135 (124-137)

Life Skills Education in India: Initiatives and Challenges

Dr. Jatinder Grover

Associate Professor
Department of Education, Panjab University, Chandigarh

Abstract
Adolescence is a period when the intellectual, physical, social, emotional capabilities are very
high, but, unfortunately, most of the adolescents are unable to utilize their potential to maximum
due to various reasons. With population explosion, industrialization and globalization, the issues
like drug abuse, sexual abuse, juvenile delinquency and antisocial acts among adolescents have
emerged as major challenges to the society. These new challenges require immediate and
effective responses from a socially responsible system of education. Education is important, but
education to support and live life better is more important. It also implies that adolescents should
be equipped with other abilities that allow them to succeed in and contribute to the society they
live in. These abilities are broadly called as life skills i.e. communication, critical thinking,
creativity, self-management, decision-making etc. Imparting life skill training through
inculcating life skill education will help youth to overcome such difficulties in life. But the
challenges to provide effective life skills education are plenty which are to be addressed in a
planned manner.

Keywords: Life skills; Life skills education; Adolescents; and Challenges.

1.0.Introduction
Adolescence, a vital stage of growth and development, marks the period of transition
from childhood to adulthood. The present scenario of adolescents clearly shows that the
condition of our youth has significantly deteriorated. Recent studies showed that there is
significant rise in the problems faced by the adolescents for example, serious emotional
disturbances has increased; increased sexual activity in schools, rise in AIDS cases in the India
(WHO, 2006). Apart from the above, uses of heavy drugs and youth drop out have also increased
in the recent years (UNICEF, 2001).
The interpersonal skills that adolescents need to adjust in society are changing, especially
the need to communicate across ethnic, gender and religious boundaries. As adolescents grow to
be the leaders of the future, it is of utmost importance to ensure their psychological well-being,
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so that they may emerge as well balanced adults. Indeed, the future of any culture hinges on how
effective this preparation is (Larson et al., 2002).
There is an urgent need to provide today's youth with a new set of ways and systems to
deal with the demands of life. Since the individual rather than the system is recognized as the
basic unit of the society, it is essential that the youth be helped to develop skills inherently to
handle a wide variety of choices, changes, challenges and stressors in a global scenario. One
best-practice model for contributing to the healthy development of adolescents is a life skills
approach (Yadav and Iqbal, 2009).

2.0. Life Skills

The life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to
deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life (WHO, 1997). They are
abilities that facilitate the physical, mental and emotional well-being of individuals. Adaptive
means that a person is flexible in approach and able to adjust to different circumstances. Positive
behaviour implies that a person is forward looking and finds a ray of hope, solution and
opportunities even in difficult situations.
Life skills are a range of psycho-social and cognitive abilities that equip children to make
informed decisions and choices, manage their emotional well-being and communicate effectively
(Singh and Menon, 2015). Life skills refer to a large group of psychosocial and interpersonal
skills that can help people make informed decisions, communicate effectively and develop
coping and self-management skills that may help them lead a healthy and productive life
(UNICEF, 2012). Life skills are the habits, attitudes and behaviours that determine how we act,
or react in any given situation.
Life skills encompass a wide-ranging and often unstructured set of skills and attitudes
that is difficult to rigidly define and that has not been officially codified or categorised. In the
digitised world, a number of related terms are used in this context i.e. 21st century skills; non-
cognitive skills; non-academic skills; character skills; soft skills; and social and emotional
learning.
World Health Organization (1997) mentioned that there is a core set of ten life skills that can
be paired to reveal five main life skills areas i.e.
 Decision making and problem solving skills;
 Creative thinking and critical thinking skills;
 Interpersonal relationship and communication skills;

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 Self-awareness skills and empathy; and

 Skill of coping with emotions and stressors.

All of the ten skills are interdependent and none of them stand alone. These skills are
inter-related and reinforce each other. Together, they are responsible for psychosocial
competence, building self-esteem and self-efficacy and to nurture holistic self-development.

3.0. Life Skills Education (LSE)

Life skills education is an educational innovation that has spread in several countries
since it was introduced in mid - eighties, thus showing its effectiveness. Comprehensive life
skills training programmes are developed to educate and train the adolescents about life skills. It
was in 1991 that World Health Organization suggested inclusion of life skills activities in school
curriculum.
Life skills education has a long history of supporting child development and health
promotion. Botvin (1984) developed Life Skills Training (LST) programme for substance abuse
prevention; the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (1986) recognized life skills in terms of
making better health choices; the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1992) linked life skills
to education by stating that education should be directed towards the development of the child’s
fullest potential; and the Jomtien Declaration on Education for All (1990) took this vision further
and included life skills among essential learning tools for survival, capacity development and
quality of life..
Life skills education is not a new concept. It has been implemented in several countries
in the world and has been a crucial component of international declarations including the Dakar
Framework for action on Education for All: Meeting our Collective Commitments (2000) and
the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS (2001).
Life skills education is a term often used to describe learning experiences that aim to
develop knowledge, attitudes, and especially skills (psychosocial competencies) that will enable
learners to take positive actions towards developing and maintaining healthy behaviours,
environments, and qualities of life (Botvin & Griffin, 2004). According to the World Health
Organization (1999), life skills education is essential for the healthy development of children and
adolescents and for preparing young people for their changing social circumstances. LSE has
been reported to reduce specific behaviours and multiple behaviour disorders in children. It can
be effective in helping to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), antisocial

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behaviour and drug abuse behaviour effectively, as well as aiding in HIV prevention. It has been
widely incorporated into the school education guidelines of some countries (Moshki,
Hassanzade, & Taymoori, 2014; Pfiffner et al., 2007; Visser, 2005; Yankah & Aggleton, 2008).
In China, life skills’ training is helpful in improving psychosocial competencies and assists in the
mental health development of middle school students (Sun et al., 2015). Imparting life skills
education to the students can be helpful as it specifically addresses the needs of children, helps in
motivating, providing practical, cognitive, emotional, social and self-management skills for life
adjustments.
Caplan et al., (1992); Nair (2005); and Yadav and Iqbal (2009) concluded that life skills
education, have found to be an effective psychosocial intervention strategy for promoting
positive social, and mental health of adolescents which plays an important role in all aspects
such as strengthening coping strategies and developing self-confidence and emotional
intelligence, as well as enhancing critical thinking, problem solving and decision making skills.
According to Tuttle et al., (2006); and Roodbari, Sahdipoor and Ghale (2013) life skills
training enhance critical thinking abilities, which further improves social development,
emotional and social adjustment and adolescents become more responsible and flexible in the
job and in future planning too. Vranda and Rao (2011) stated that life skills training can enhance
psychosocial competencies of students. Bharath and Kishore (2010) concluded that life skills
education improved adjustment of the adolescents with teachers and school; and increased pro-
social behaviour, coping, and self–esteem.
There are many different reasons why these life skills are taught in different countries. In
Zimbabwe and Thailand, the impetus for initiating life skills education was the prevention of
HIV/AIDS. In Mexico, it was for the prevention of adolescent pregnancy. In the United
Kingdom, an important life skills initiative was set up to contribute to child abuse prevention and
in the USA, there are numerous life skills programmes for the prevention of substance abuse and
violence. In South Africa and Colombia, an important stimulus for life skills education has been
the desire to create a curriculum for education for life called life orientation education in South
Africa and integral education in Colombia. There are many initiatives of this nature in which in
addition to primary prevention objectives, life skills education has been developed to promote
the positive socialization of children (WHO, 1999).
The ever-increasing social changes and complexities and the expansion of social relations
makes it necessary to prepare people to face difficult situations. To prevent psychological
diseases and social dysfunctions, psychologists have engaged in life skills training throughout

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the world and in school. Life skills are the capabilities that pave the way for positive and useful
behaviour, and these capabilities enable the person to assume his/her social responsibilities, and
cope with daily problems and interpersonal relations without hurting himself/herself and the
others.
Many countries are now considering the development of life skills education in response
to the need to reform traditional education systems which appear to be out of step with the
realities of modern social and economic life. Problems such as violence in schools and student
drop-out are crippling the ability of school systems to achieve their academic goals.
Furthermore, in addition to its wide-ranging applications in primary prevention and the
advantages that LSE can bring constructive reforms in the education systems.

4.0. Life Skills Education Initiatives in India

In India, the life skills education is an important component of all the major schemes at all levels
of education. The initiatives taken regarding life skills education are summarised as follows:
 National Curriculum Framework (2000) recommended that education ideally must prepare
students to face the challenges of life. For this, it needs to be intimately linked with the
different life-skills and it is through these skills that students can fight the challenges of drug
addiction, violence, teenage pregnancy, AIDS and many other health related problems.
 National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005 has emphasized on constructive learning
experiences and on the development of an inquiry-based approach, work-related knowledge
and broader life skills. Interventions focused on adolescent reproductive and sexual health
concerns, including HIV/AIDS and drug/ substance abuse are needed to provide
opportunities to construct knowledge and acquire life skills, so that, they cope with concerns
related to the process of growing up. Development of life skills such as critical thinking
skills, interpersonal communication skills, negotiation/ refusal skills, decision making/
problem-solving skills, and coping and self-management skills is very critical for dealing
with the demands and challenges of everyday life.
 Adolescence Education Program (AEP), 2005 in India is implemented by Department of
School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) in
collaboration with National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) as a key intervention for
empowering adolescents to deal with risky situations, preventing new HIV infections,
reducing vulnerability to the infection and substance dependence and influencing positive
behaviour development. The AEP is focused on strengthening of life skills that enable young

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people to protect themselves from and to cope with risky situations they encounter in their
lives.
Adolescence Education (AE) is guided by the NCF, 2005 which recommends that education
should instill independence of thought and action; sensitivity to others’ well-being and
feelings; learning to respond to new situations in a flexible and creative manner;
predisposition towards participation in democratic processes; and the ability to work for
contributing to economic processes and social change. The NCF, 2005 clearly outlined that
the AEP should not be practiced separately, rather be included in school education.
 Realising the significance of life skills education, Central Board of Secondary Education
(CBSE), in 2010, introduced life skills education as an integral part of the curriculum
through Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) for classes VI to X and
developed life skills manuals for teachers on the ten core life skills identified by WHO and
these ten life skills have been further categorized in three major categories i.e.
 Thinking skills: Critical thinking; creative thinking; decision making; problem solving; and
self-awareness.
 Social skills: Effective communication; interpersonal relationship skills; and empathy.
 Emotional skills: Coping with emotions; and coping with stress.
 National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE), 2009 has elaborated that
true education is a process of developing the human personality in all its dimensions –
intellectual, physical, emotional, social, moral and spiritual. This can only be achieved, if
teacher education curriculum provides appropriate and critical opportunities for student
teachers to develop the capacity for self-analysis, self-evaluation, adaptability, flexibility,
creativity and innovation; to think, reflect, assimilate and articulate new ideas; be self-critical
and to work collaboratively in groups; examine disciplinary knowledge and social realities;
relate subject matter with the social milieu of learners; and develop critical thinking.

5.0. Challenges to Life Skills Education

In the current scenario of increased industrial development, urbanization and rampant
globalization, the children hitherto are a confused lot. There is a lot of stress on achievement and
performance by the teachers and parents. As contemporary educationists rightly put it, the focus
of the current education system is on what the child doesn’t know rather than on what the child
knows (Khatoon, 2015). Indian education system have been blatantly influenced by the
mechanistic, bureaucratic organizational theories developed at the time of the industrial

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revolution and have adopted a hierarchical top down management approach in organizing the
education system. In the process, the child is being viewed as just a product of the system
(Singh, 2015).
Everyday millions of children enter the gates of Government and corporation schools to
become something in life. Schools focus primarily on imparting scholastic knowledge of
science, mathematics etc. But precious little is being done for the all-round development of
children. Organized efforts are not made to enable young children to develop into responsible
social beings with a competence to respond to their personal, social and cultural needs (Akshaya
Life Skills, 2012).
In the whole world, the teaching of life skills education has been buffeted by numerous
challenges since its inception. In India, the first challenge to life skills education probably dates
back to the time of the British rule in the country. The present educational system of India was
an implantation of British rulers. Kanigel (1991), author of ‘the man who knew infinity–a life of
the genius Ramanaujan’ has this to say about the Indian education system of pre-independence
period -‘it was designed after all to churn out bright well rounded young men who could help
their British masters run the country….not restless ambitious spirits’. The British shaped and
created the Indian educational system accordingly and we, on our part, have accepted the
regimented policies imposed by them in the name of education and have continued to obey it till
date in right earnest. To date, the Indian educational system is obsessed with producing
individuals who are unable to think for themselves or even acquire the knack of independent
work, to take ownership and responsibility and to solve problems and take decisions (Subitha,
2013).
The second challenge to LSE is, rapidly changing professional, social, moral, ethical,
religious and family values have changed the life styles in the present society especially among
the youth. Certain inbuilt buffers of the society like family support and control; extended family
system; and traditional ways of thinking are no longer available to the adolescents. In tough
times, when adolescents could not find any solace and have no skills to come out of all this , then
it lead to depression, substance abuse, suicide and crime among them (Khera and Khosla, 2012).
Thirdly, in Indian schools, the life skills education is conceptualized as a variant of value
or character education. Ramakrishnan (2010) stated that in most schools, value education is
confused with life skills education. Most schools have value education as part of the curriculum
as it is one of the requirements of the NCF, though there is not much emphasis on life skills
education.

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Further, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) also considered life skills training as its agenda
for the upper primary girls along with providing quality elementary education. Yet, classroom
observations of Government schools in few districts of Tamil Nadu have shown that life skills
education has often been confused with vocational education (Subitha, 2013). These
observations indicate that the Indian education system has not yet awakened to the requirement
of life skill training programmes in its schools.

The next challenge to life skills education is non- involvement of adolescents in

household chores and school events. In this context, Ranjekar (2008) elaborated that basic reason
of poor life skills training among Indian adolescents is to deprive them from experiences of
helping parents in household chores. He further stated that one of the common criticisms of the
existing education system is that, it tends to be bookish and detached from real life. Most of the
education seems to be focused on mere cognitive skills revolving around rote learning of the
content of subjects. Life skills such as critical thinking, ability to interpret, reflecting on thoughts
and actions, communication, interpersonal skills and, above all, learning and relearning to adapt
to ever-changing new situations in life are hardly dealt with consciously through the education
process.
The research findings concluded that for better results, life skills education need to be
integrated into curriculum through curricular and co-curricular activities instead of a stand-alone
subject. Chirwa (2009) and Maogoto (2011) found that school teachers were emphasising
performance in subjects of science and mathematics and most teachers prefer to utilise the time
allocated to LSE to teach these subjects. The inadequacy of teaching and learning resources is a
common challenge for the effective delivery of LSE in schools. The successful teaching of LSE
requires adequate resources.
Kolosoa and Makhakhane (2010) highlighted that majority of the teachers in the schools
have very little information about the LSE programme. During pre-service education, the course
is delivered to student teachers only in a two days workshop and no provisions for in-service
training are made to equip teachers with relevant and appropriate skills which could facilitate
quality teaching and learning of life skills. Non-availability of any specific criteria for the
assessment and evaluation measures has lowered the status of life skills education.
Kitivui (2013) and Kitimo (2014) revealed that the major challenges which hindered
implementation of life skills education were; lack of enough teaching/learning materials, non
examinable status of LSE, heavy workloads caused by shortage of teachers and lack of trained

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teachers for LSE. For successful implementation of LSE, it should be ensured that in schools,
time allocated for LSE is not used for syllabus coverage; teachers have adequate and relevant
training for LSE; and teachers should be encouraged to use participatory strategy in teaching life
skills.
Nileena (2012) reported that many schools in Tamil Nadu did not show much interest in
the programme of life skills education and parents did not show much interest in LSE
programme because this programme did not fetch any marks to students. Schools had not
dedicated separate class hours for life skills education. Abobo and Orodho (2014) found that
inadequate teaching learning resources, lack of training to teachers on different aspects of life
skills teaching and evaluation, and low level of preparedness of teachers and school managers
were some identified problems related to implementation of LSE in schools. It’s required that
life skills education should be made examinable, so that students and teachers take it seriously
like other examinable subjects in the school curriculum.
Further, Okech and Role (2015) suggested that the pedagogy of LSE needs to be
reconsidered. As LSE is not a subject that appeal to the cognitive domain alone. Indeed, it is a
subject that appeals more to the affective domain of the child’s development. The current
techniques used by teachers are more directed to teaching LSE like an intellectual exercise. The
end result is that learners have an intellectual understanding of the LSE content without
necessarily imbibing the values inherent in the lessons. Teachers need to approach the subject
from a non-cognitive angle and develop learning outcomes that appeal more to the affective
domain of the learner’s personality. More interactive activities need to be included in the lessons,
so that, learning of life skills become lifelong.
Singh and Sharma (2016) highlighted that in India, the capacity and motivation of
teachers need to be developed to integrate life skills into their classroom practice. Life skills
education in schools clearly needs to take place in the context of broader education system
reforms. Life skills education need to be age-aligned and inculcated in an inclusive set up in the
schools by the trained and motivated teachers who can employ participatory and experiential
teaching practices for life skills education.
In this context, Behrani (2016) revealed that the major challenges in implementation of
life skills education in Indian schools, include time constraints; lack of proper training to
teachers to grasp the ideas of life skills education programmes; problems in evaluation of
qualitative skills like, social and emotional aspects; lack of students interest due to academic
burden; improper arrangements and improper time slots; and burden of extracurricular activities.

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The study recommended that teachers should be trained on life skills during pre-service as well
as during in-service as it may be the best strategy for ensuring effective implementation of life
skills curriculum in schools. Also, there is a need to develop supplementary resources like audio-
visuals, board-games, digitised activities to make the teaching of life skills more interactive and
interesting to the learners.

5.0. Conclusion:
Life skills are considered as a range of psycho-social and cognitive abilities that prepare
children to make informed decisions and choices to direct their emotional well-being and
communicate effectively. Life skills are essential for successful living. Life skills education is a
very significant and vital part of educational system worldwide. In Indian schools however, life
skills education is yet to be fully initiated and accepted as an important part of the curriculum.
The adolescents need to be educated about the life skills by using interactive activities which
influence their cognitive and affective domain simultaneously. To counter the challenges to life
skills education, school teachers need to be equipped during pre-service training and through in-
service interventions about the pedagogy and new developments in the field of life skills
education.

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