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

Abstract: Adolescents and young emerging adults are highly vulnerable to stress and strain due to numerous transitions which are biological, socio-emotional, and psychological in nature. This coupled with external factors and environmental influences such as family structure and needs, peer-pressure, school and college environment play a critical role in influencing their thoughts and behavior. Hence it becomes crucial to find the means for strengthening problem-solving skills thereby enhancing their 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) focuses on 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. The Jeevan Kaushal Curriculum (2.0) framed by University Grants Commission proposes several core skills essential for living successful lives viz. communication skills, professional skills (career and team skills), leadership and management skills and universal human values. This study attempts to explore the role of core documents such as the Jeevan Kaushal Curriculum (2.0), WHO Universal Health Coverage for Mental Health and National Education Policy (NEP, 2020) in supporting the mental well-being of the target population, using document analysis. 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.