What are life skills?
In essence, life skills are the abilities that enable people to deal with challenging and demanding situations with a positive and adaptive behavior. Life skills are those skills that add value to the life of an individual and the society which he or she inhabits. These skills help people sail smoothly through the often turbulent waters of life. They are meant to help an individual grow and develop into a productive member of the larger community.
The need for life skills
The world is changing rapidly, and the rate of change is getting faster with every passing year. Unlike their ancestors, the children of the modern world are not growing up in stable and predictable times. Many students who are in school today might graduate into a workforce that is drastically different from the one for which they were trained during their academic life.
Even ten years ago, for example, schools required their students to memorize facts and practice handwriting. Both are skills that have now been rendered obsolete in the workforce. Even a person with an eidetic memory is easily surpassed in the realm of knowledge by someone who knows how to use the internet. Likewise, almost all offices use computers and no documents are written by hand anymore. Hence, it is the ability to analyze facts that is far more important for modern workers than the ability to memorize them.
Few people can claim to know what the world will look like in the next twenty years or so. So what kind of an education system can prepare a child for a future that nobody can predict? The only solution is to educate children in such a way that helps them deal constructively with change and unexpected circumstances. In an ever-changing world, there is no skill as valuable as the ability to learn quickly and think creatively.
Therefore, mentioned below are some of the life skills that every child should be taught at school. The top schools in Jaipur, Delhi and the rest of the country have already incorporated life skill education as a major part of their overall curriculum.
· Decision making
· Problem solving
· Creative thinking
· Critical thinking
· Effective communication
· Resilience
· Self-awareness
· Assertiveness
· Empathy
· Equanimity
These are some of the skills that children must be taught at school, so that they can deal with the challenges of the future without being overwhelmed. You should browse the websites of some of the top schools in Jaipur and other cities to ensure that life skill training is included within their curriculum.
