CBSE introduces essential life and employability skills in schools – Times of India

Understanding the need


Biswajit Saha, director (training and skill education), CBSE, says, “Studies suggest that the age-group of 14-29 years is the best time for students to acquire the essential life skills of problem-solving, communication, self-awareness and job-readiness. Due to the pandemic, the last two years have witnessed a major learning gap amongst students in this regard, which this programme aims to fill.”

He tells that the first chapter of the #Young Warrior NXT initiative will be a four-week long programme held across 500 schools who opted for the pilot, for students of standards IX and XI. The initiative has been launched in collaboration with UNICEF, YuWaah and Udhyam Learning.

The initiative will not be a burden on students but will be an optional, experiential learning-based module. “With National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 focusing on the all-round development of students, these life skills will take on great importance in the future,” he tells.

Curriculum


Anshumali Srivastava, PGT commerce, KV2, Agra and a master trainer for this initiative, says, “For the last two years, online education has limited interactions between teachers and students to purely academic. This has led to a socio-emotional learning gap in students, which this initiative aims to fill.”

On January 8, 2022, a pre-test has been scheduled for all participants that will check their status with the life skills the initiative aims to develop, tells Srivastava. “Each week will be dedicated to one of the four earmarked core skills, which will be taught to students and checked with experiential-based activities at the end of the week. At the end of the four weeks, a final test will be conducted to check the students’ progress with each of the core skills,” he adds.

Master Trainers are being prepared to be problem-solvers for both teachers and students during this programme, tells Srivastava. “With teachers acting as facilitators, they need to be in tune with the issues being faced by students so that the aim is achieved,” he adds.

Expectations


Binumon VR, principal, Adarsh Vidya Kendra, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, has opted to be a part of the pilot initiative. “It is imperative to fill the learning gaps generated over the past two years. While students who have suffered will face a difficult time with underdeveloped essential life skills, even teachers need to be able to deal with their classes in a manner that gives students the opportunity to understand and overcome the issue,” he says.

He adds, “Currently, I am having regular discussions with teachers, parents, and students to bring them on board with the initiative. Instead of imparting complex education to students, the focus needs to be on filling the pandemic-induced learning gaps related to essential skills visible to all educationists,” he tells.