How 3 years of Happiness classes changed pupils, parents, teachers

New Delhi: Three years of the Delhi government's Happiness Curriculums across schools has helped Sparsh Aggarwal — a Class VII student — get closer to her mother; Rakshit — also in Class VII — is able to better concentrate on his studies; and Class IX student Gurmeet is better able to deal with her anxiety and is now confident of herself.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday interacted with students, their parents and teachers of Delhi government schools to mark the third anniversary of the administration's flagship Happiness Curriculum, which was launched by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2018.

At the interaction, Sisodia said, "It is a great joy to hear that the Happiness Curriculum has brought about a change in the lives of children, their families and also their teachers."

During a free-wheeling chat with the students and their parents, many students like Gurmeet, Sparsh and Rakshit shared how the curriculum had changed their lives and more importantly, they also spoke of the positive changes the classes had brought in their relationships with family and friends.

Jai Saini, a Class VII student at Sarvodaya Co-Ed School, Moth Masjid, said that he did not like reading Social Studies before but he has been inspired by the stories taught in his Happiness classes. Now, he understands every chapter in his Social Studies curriculum through his own story-building attempts and even performs better in these subjects.

Yet another student, Prachi, of Class IX, at the SDSV Sector-19, Rohini, said that she used to get very angry earlier but with the Happiness classes and mindfulness, she has been able to control her anger better.

Teachers at the interaction also shared how the curriculum had helped them both at school and at home. For instance, Rakshit's teacher at SCSDSV, Rohini Sector-9, Richa, said that she had started using mindfulness activities with her family members and had seen a positive change.

Furthermore, the Principal of Bachchan Prasad SKV, where Gurmeet studies, said that the Happiness Classes have helped her students become more regular with school work and self-disciplined.

Significantly, the Delhi government announced that Sisodia also met with a panel of international experts to discuss global best practices in social-emotional learning.

The panel included Dr Scherto R Gill, Chair of G20 Interfaith Forum's education working group, Dr Amit Sen, Director and co-founder of Children First, Mr Kamal Silwal, CEO of Genius Academy Nepal and Mr Ankit Pogula, member of Cell for Human Values and Transformative Learning.

Sisodia said that these Happiness Classes had brought about the age-old traditions of mindfulness back to the community.

"Lakhs of children have practiced mindfulness and other activities learned in the Happiness Classes in their homes with parents and siblings during the Covid 19 pandemic. This has led to people feeling happier and stress-free even during such difficult times," he said.