NEW DELHI: The Delhi government, which is celebrating the first anniversary of the introduction of the Happiness Curriculum in its schools with a two-week-long Happiness Utsav, on Monday welcomed two prominent guests, renowned education reformer Sonam Wangchuk, and Odisha education minister Samir Ranjan Dash. Wangchuk is known for having been the inspiration for Aamir Khan’s popular character Phunsukh Wangdu in the film 3 Idiots.
Impressed by the success and impact of the Happiness Curriculum, he said, “We cannot sustain a system where the rich study in private schools and the poor in government schools. Delhi’s government school infrastructure is commendable, but today I am very impressed by the work being done on children’s mental well-being. The entire world needs to think about implementing such a programme.” Wangchuk is the second major educationist to visit the city and laud the education model of the AAP government, after Anand Kumar of the Super 30 educational programme last week.
Education minister Dash, who interacted with students who are getting the Happiness Classes, said, “What I have genuinely observed is that the children are happy. The Happiness Curriculum is helping children concentrate better on their studies. I want to congratulate Sisodia and his government. I will go back to Odisha and speak with my chief minister about implementing this programme in our schools.”
The Happiness Class is given to students from the nursery level to class eight. A 45-minute Happiness Class is held daily in the Delhi government schools. It teaches children to be emotionally strong, helping increase the children’s confidence and happiness. The class starts with a mindfulness exercise, then continues with stories that teach children important life lessons. At the end of the month, the Happiness Utsav will conclude with a mega programme hosted by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at Thyagraj Stadium.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday accused the AAP government of using the Happiness Curriculum as a “propaganda tool”, and BJP leader Vijender Gupta demanded a third-party audit of the classes. The government is “patting its back” without any third-party audit of such classes, he said.