IMCCRT-2024-8153 Title - Life Skills for promoting Mental Well-Being among Indian Adolescents and

Title - Life Skills for promoting Mental Well-Being among Indian Adolescents and Youth

Author's Name - Dr. Sampurna Guha

Abstract - It’s important to note the growing emphasis on like skills training for adolescents and youth over the past decade. Adolescents and young adults are highly vulnerable to stress and strain due to numerous transitions which are biological, socio-emotional, and psychological in nature. This is coupled with external factors and environmental influences such as family structure and needs, peer-pressure, school and college environment, which play a critical role in influencing their thoughts and behavior. Hence it becomes crucial for us to find the means for strengthening their problem-solving skills thereby enhancing mental health and overall well-being. Life skills serve as an effective means of empowering adolescents and youth to navigate life’s challenges proficiently, using a skill-based approach. The World Health Organization (WHO) has outlined ten core life skills including aspects of individual personality (self-awareness, empathy), cognitive skills (critical and creative thinking, decision making, problem solving,), coping skills (coping with stress and emotions), interpersonal relationships and communication skills. This study made an attempt to explore core features of the Jeevan Kaushal Curriculum (2.0) drafted by University Grants Commission, which proposes several core skills essential for living successful lives viz. communication skills, professional skills (sub categorized into: career and team skills), leadership and management skills and universal human values and its role in supporting the mental well-being of the target population. The study findings indicate that the Jeevan Kaushal curriculum (2.0) can be used as an effective tool towards fostering student skills sets and enhancing mental strength thereby supporting the promotion and maintenance of mental well-being of adolescents and youth in the Indian context. Moreover it is in alignment with the core features of NEP 2020 which focuses on a holistic, transformational higher education curriculum incorporating value based education and community engagement services.

Keywords: Adolescents, Jeevan Kaushal, Life skills, NEP-2020, Mental strength, Mental wellbeing, Well-being, WHO.