SCHOOL WELLNESS PROGRAM
ABOUT
Ruhani’s school wellness program seeks to bring about a revolutionary change in the way education is viewed today. We wish to make school systems networks of emotional support and care, thus giving more time for children to simply enjoy the most ripest age of their lives. Following the CASEL framework, we seek to introduce the idea of social and emotional learning (SEL) through our program in classrooms and schools. Additionally, our school wellness program offers a holistic, all-round development plan, involving a variety of activities aimed at tackling not just personal, but also societal problems at large.
BENEFITS
SEL programming fosters students’ social-emotional competencies by establishing positive classroom and school cultures, climates, and conditions for learning that are caring, cooperative, culturally responsive, well-managed, participatory, and safe (Osher & Berg, 2017; Zins, Weissberg, Wang, & Walberg, 2004). A 2017 research review found that SEL programs can promote academic success and increase positive behavior, while reducing misconduct, substance abuse, and emotional distress for elementary school students. Project Ruhani offers a curriculum based on the CASEL framework to schools and NGOs who wish to bring about a radical transformation in the growth and development of the students.
PILOT
Our journey began with a school intervention with VIMHANS, in the primary schools of EDMC (East Delhi Municipal Corporation). We hosted various sessions on self-esteem, self love, and bullying in the schools, creating an empathetic, compassionate environment.
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AIM
A radical transformation in the way the education system works is now the need of the hour.To fight the negative impacts of this pandemic, we need to make sure our students have the mental health support necessary to cope with the losses and transitions of the past year (Falt, 2020). Ruhani aims at inculacting SEL in classroom learning. This belief is fostered in national policy, as the preamble of the draft National Education Policy (NEP), shared by the MHRD for public consultation, also states: “Students must develop not only cognitive skills - both ‘foundational skills’ of literacy and numeracy and ‘higher-order’ cognitive skills such as critical thinking and problem solving skills - but also social and emotional skills, also referred to as ‘soft skills’, including cultural awareness and empathy, perseverance and grit, teamwork and leadership, among others. The process by which children and adults acquire these competencies is also referred to as Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).”