Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister of Delhi, Shri Manish Sisodia addressed the third edition of ‘Saajhi Samajh’, a webinar on “Unlocking Minds: Keys to the locker room”. Delivering the key note address at the webinar organized by Tech Mahindra Foundation on Wednesday, Shri. Manish Sisodia spoke about the issues faced by the adolescents and steps taken by the Delhi Government in preparing the children to face and live the most crucial formative years of their life with confidence. The webinar was attended by teachers, educators, counselors, parents and students across the world
Elaborating his views on the issues related to adolescents, Manish Sisodia said, “The society as a whole should take the responsibility for shaping young minds. A girl told me about the discrimination that she goes through on a daily basis as her brother is given preference over her in literally all matters at home. He is served nice meals while she is expected to adjust as she is a girl. She also told me that due to happiness class, she is able to maintain a cool mindset and is able to focus on her studies well,”
Highlighting the areas of concern and how it can be addressed, Shri Manish Sisodia said, “One out of four children is a victim of depression and every hour one student commits suicide in our country. The constant pressure to excel in academics is what is making the child go to such extremes. Teenage years are formative years of a person’s life. Teenagers face a lot of challenges in terms of hormonal changes, academic expectations, peer pressure. 16 lakh students of Delhi Govt. schools have been practicing meditation (mindfulness) at the start of their classes. Kids are coming up with new ideas everyday as encouraged by our entrepreneurship curriculum. Regular classrooms and rote learning have pushed our students to live in fear and never take any risk. But the entrepreneurship curriculum helps students come up with great ideas, explore and start with something of their own,” he said.
Shri Manish Sisodia explained the two major programmes of the Delhi Govt. to address these issues impacting the young students – the Happiness Curriculum which involves mindfulness classes for classes’ nursery to grade 8 and Entrepreneurship mindset Curriculum that focuses on empowering students to take risks, venture out and evolve as well rounded professionals.
“Teenage kids share their experiences with the teachers and peers through the opportunity given by the Happiness curriculum. In one such incident, the mother of a young student (hailing from an underprivileged background) told me that her son has become more sensitive because of the mindfulness class. He now asks her if she has eaten and checks in the kitchen if there is any food left for her before he starts eating. Such is the impact of Happiness Class”
