NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s pet project of ‘happiness classes’ for school children will resume from Sunday as they will be conducted at homes due to the lockdown in view of the COVID-19 situation in the country. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said happiness classes have a crucial role to play in such “turbulent times”.
“The purpose behind the ‘happiness curriculum’ is to make children introspect and get to know themselves better. Mindfulness is practised by all 16 lakh students everyday in our schools,’ he said.“We are all gripped with anxiety today. These are unusual times and we do not know what to do as a fun activity. We cannot go out, go to movies, or sit in parks, we are confined to our homes with our family,” Sisodia said.
“In such situations, it is possible to get irritated with one another, and we do not know how to refresh our minds as we are still restricted to our homes,’ he said.
Underlining the importance of happiness classes in such times, Sisodia, who is also the education minister, said, “The activities of happiness class would now be conducted at home everyday by the parents. We will support around 8 lakh students and their families to practice mindful meditation from tomorrow with the help of our teachers. It is important to turn the atmosphere positive in our homes and make the families spend quality time together,” he added.
The Delhi government introduced the happiness curriculum in July, 2018. According to the curriculum, students studying in classes 1 to 8 at state government schools spend 45 minutes each day to attend happiness classes wherein they participate in activities such as storytelling and meditation, among others.
Similarly, for nursery and kindergarten students, the classes are held twice a week. Meanwhile, the Delhi government teachers have been conducting daily online sessions for an hour and half for class 11 students.
With PTI inputs