Delhi government kicks off online Happiness Classes for students, parents

Twelve-year-old Deepanshu Jha, a student at Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya (RPVV) Shalimar Bagh, has been practising mindfulness, and other such activities, as

Twelve-year-old Deepanshu Jha, a student at Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya (RPVV) Shalimar Bagh, has been practising mindfulness, and other such activities, as part of his Happiness Class, with his parents for over a week now. While he takes his Happiness lessons through text messages and pre-recorded messages, the class 8 student now looks forward to the online lessons.

HT Image

On Saturday, the Delhi government launched online Happiness Class which will accessible on social media platforms, Facebook and YouTube, at 4pm everyday, and will be open for all. This is the first time the government school teachers will conduct the Happiness sessions through a deferred live programme everyday.

Happiness Class is a new and unique curriculum that was launched by the state government in 2018 to develop self-awareness and mindfulness among students. The First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump had also attended a session at a government school earlier this year.

“At a time when there is so much stress and anxiety around Covid-19, the Happiness Class make us more positive. From the laughter activity to mindfulness, our parents participate in these activities with us and this makes it more fun. Till now, we were being told about the activities over the phone. The online lessons will be a step closer to the classroom experience,” Jha said.

His mother, Rinku Devi, said, “We have been doing all the activities recommended in the Happiness Class with our son, but it will definitely be better when we will be able to see the teachers while performing the activities. The time chosen for the classes (4pm) is also convenient because we are generally done with our household chores by then.”

Since the Covid-19 lockdown, the Delhi government has used multiple remote-learning measures, including video conferences, automated text messages and pre-recorded voice calls, to ensure there is no academic loss during the pandemic. Teachers have also been disseminating learning material over WhatsApp.

While launching the classes during the third live session of “Parenting in the time of Corona”, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the classes would help in dealing with present times. “The current situation is something that has not been witnessed ever by our parents or grandparents. Our goal is to sail through these times by shredding our anxiety and worries,” he said.“We need to bring our families together and stay united. Practising mindfulness together can be one such activity which would help all of us to ease our anxieties.”

Bhavna Sawnani, a mentor teacher who has been working on the Happiness Curriculum, said, “We will give instructions in a simplified manner so that everybody can follow. The sessions will start and end with mindfulness. There will be an activity or a storytelling session everyday with questions which will make participants think about traits like respect, gratitude, care, and compassion among other things.”

The government has also launched a Happiness Blog which lists out the syllabus and content of their flagship Happiness Curriculum. A senior official in the education department said they plan to introduce an option for live feedback in the coming days.