Merry kids on the block

Things are a bit sad for India when it comes to happiness: according to the 2019 World Happiness Report, India ranks 140 among the 156 surveyed countries. Troubles with the Indian education system, not much investment to-wards the holistic development of a child, and lack of consideration towards mental health have contributed to this.

The Capital is, however, seeing a bit of a turnaround. For instance, Children studying in government schools have been performing better than students from other schools, as we have seen with the board examination results.

Hence, the Directorate of Education of Delhi’s decision to organise the fortnight-long ‘Happiness Utsav’ (concluding on July 31) across all its schools comes as a swell move. The event jas been celebrating the completion of the first year of the ‘Hap-piness Cur-riculum’, which was introduced to promote mindful behaviour and mental health awareness among school children. Activities such as poetry recitation, exhibitions and nataks (dramas) are a part of it.

Vibha Jha, a private school teacher, was upbeat about the initiative. She says, "This is something that is not only is followed by government schools but also by private schools. I’ve seen students dealing with so much pressure these days. Though, I wish such amenities were available in our schools.”

Rajeev Singh, a parent, opines, “The pressure of studies on kids is enormous. They barely get time to have any fun. With this initiative, students will have spaces to unwind and forget their studies and tasks. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. More efforts need to be made.”

Rajveer Nanda, a class nine student, says, “I love these classes. I actually feel happy and it always lightens up my mood. When I come back home after a long day, I am able to concentrate on my studies and I am sorted most of the time.” He added, “These classes are important in a student’s life are we are able to not only focus on studies, but on other things too.”