Delhi plans to teach children in government schools how to be happy. Nursery to Class 8 students will have a “happiness curriculum” when the next academic session begins in April, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia (pictured above) said on Wednesday.
“The Delhi government has commissioned a team of experts, including school teachers, which is preparing a framework for the happiness curriculum,” Sisodia said at an event on education in the city, PTI reported.
He said various crimes such as murder and rape “make us realise that there is a need for a more fundamental re-look at the purpose of education,” he said, according to the Hindustan Times. “Many of the perversions we see in society are due to our education system not being able to answer questions of human happiness and fulfilment.”
Sisodia, who also heads the education portfolio in the state Cabinet, said the curriculum would be activity-based without any formal examinations. A periodic assessment of children’s progress will be made using a happiness index, he said.
He said education should serve “a larger moral and societal purpose and cannot be looked at in isolation from the needs of society”. “Even as we aim for economic equality, we must strive for ‘happiness equality’ as well,” he was quoted as saying.
Later, in a series of tweets, Sisodia said the curriculum would help children be “happier, more confident and have greater self esteem”. The education system needs to create happier, confident and self-aware citizens, he added.
Invoking Bhutan, which has a Gross National Happiness index for its citizens, Sisodia said such a curriculum would help enhance children’s personality and influence the direction of the society and nation.
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