Time to make wellbeing a mainstream subject, says Sisodia

New Delhi, March 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Sunday contended that it was now the right time to change strategy and introduce wellbeing into domains of learning and mainstream subjects for children.

In his address at the Harvard Social Enterprise Conference on subject of mental health and socio-emotional learning, Sisodia, who also hold the Education portfolio, said: "I believe that wellbeing needs to be made as a mainstream subject in education. One of the initiatives we have taken, to develop resilient children, is the entrepreneurship mindset curriculum.

"Irrespective of what children pursue, we want our students to think like an entrepreneur -- 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."

Sisodia also said that through the Delhi government's "happiness curriculum", they have been able to encourage the ecosystems to think about long-term approaches to mental health.

"The objective of our happiness curriculum has been to develop self-awareness and mindfulness, inculcate skills of critical thinking and inquiry, enable learners to communicate effectively and help children to apply life skills to deal with stressful and conflicting situations around them. Almost 3-4 lakh students who practiced mindfulness and different activities helped their homes to be strong and emotionally sound."

Highlighting the recommended key elements need to be introduced in public education, especially in the post Covid-19 era, he said the biggest takeaway from the pandemic is the introduction of technology into the education sector.

"Adopting the right approaches to inculcate technology within our education would in fact make learning more inclusive. Our contribution to the rising need of technology is highlighted by the introduction of Delhi's first virtual school model. I can say that this would be our own kind of experiment in India," he added.

Sisodia had announced the virtual school concept during his budget for 2021-22 presented in the Delhi Assembly on March 9.

Elaborating on the concept, he said that it will carry the hallmarks of any regular government school in the city.

"We will ensure deliberate approaches to socialisation by making the communities where students live learning hubs," he added.

The Harvard Social Enterprise Conference has brought together top leaders, practitioners and students to engage in a virtual dialogue, debate, and expression around social enterprise.

The theme for this year's conference was 'Resilience and Reckoning' with 'Innovations in Mental Health.'

Source: IANS