Importance of Life Skill Education


In technological and data driven world, much of the center of attention is education which enable students to prepare them for future career.  They may face many problems in personal and professional front. Life Skills Education equipped individuals well are to make good decisions and solve problems in their academic and professional careers as well as their personal lives. It should also play a critical role in all round and comprehensive education.
“In a constantly changing environment, having life skills is an essential part of being able to meet the challenges of everyday life. The dramatic changes in global economies over the past five years have been matched with the transformation in technology and these are all impacting on education, the workplace, and our home life.”
                                                                                                                                       Macmillan Education                                                                     
What Is Life Skills-Based Education?
Think of life skills as the building blocks or framework that allow students to apply the knowledge they acquire in schools and institutions to real life problems and situations. These skills are also referred to as “soft skills” in a professional context, the ability to think abstractly and approach problems from several angles to find practical solutions, and the skill to communicate clearly and effectively are just as important as technical knowledge in a particular field or scholastic subjects.
Life skills provide learners with important tools for development, such as independent thinking, how to socialize and make new friends, and how to take action in situations where their parents or teachers may not be around to help or intervene like teasing, bullying, ragging etc. Unlike motor skills and basic intelligence, executive function and decision-making skills are not innate but learned.
Examples of life skills include:
Importance of Teaching Life Skills at a Young Age
Building life skills is essentially an exercise in helping children develop sound judgment and good habits for long-term stability, wellness, and success.
How to endorse Life Skills for Young Students
Parents and teachers can take an active role in teaching life-skills at home and schools with projects that provide real world examples and lessons in decision making and problem solving. They can be as simple as assigning household chores and budgeting exercises through an allowance, to caring for a pet or volunteering in the community.
Fun and simple-to-organize activities, like game nights with family and friends with an educational focus that also encourage working in teams, can help to build social and interpersonal skills.
Everyday Survival Skills
Children are not suppose to learn to perform their basic task in their day to day life like brushing their own teeth and learning how to tie their shoes and get dressed, but also young children should know what to do in common situations as well as emergencies, such as:
  • How to get to and from home and school?
  • Who to call in an emergency (memorize phone numbers)?
  • How to safely cross the street?
  • What to do if they are bullied or witness bullying
  • How to safely use kitchen appliances and prepare basic meals
The acquisition of problem-solving and reasoning abilities is a fluid and ongoing process, and working with children early in their development to lay the framework with examples that they can understand and apply on their own is a good place to start.
Dr. Rajnee Gaur
B.Ed


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