It is well said by Robert Greene, “The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways”. This means education should not be limited to the four walls of the classroom alone, skills acquired directly or indirectly are what will shape our kids to become fine young men and women.
What are Life Skills?
A set of basic rules that are gained through learning or with direct experiences in life are termed Life Skills. These skills enable individuals to tackle various sorts of issues & problems effectively which are commonly faced in daily life. They are the abilities for adaptive & positive behavior that enable human beings to deal with every life challenge & situation effectively. One needs them to make the most out of life. In short, any life skill which is useful in life can be considered a life skill.
Talking about school children, these rules also equip students to thrive in the classroom & in the world outside.
Why are Skills important?
Life Skills are important as these bring positive effects on the life of an individual. In this 21st century, all these skills are essential to gain success not only for a healthy society but also for successful individuals. Thus, it is important to evolve skill training among children from an early age itself.
What is Life Skills Education?
Activities like critical thinking, creative art & craft work, decision-making, problem-solving, ability to collaborate & communicate along with a sense of responsibility towards personal as well as society at large, to contribute good citizenship comes under Life Skills.
Life Skill Education in Schools
These life skills must be made compulsory in school education as without learning these skills, children can struggle when it comes to real-world responsibilities. Therefore, it becomes necessary that schools provide their students with these types of basic mental, social & physical skills to make them ready for leading a better after-school life. Overall, it can be said that these life skills should also be brought into high-school education. Concluding, there are lots of skills that children must need for their future. Some of these are:
- Collaboration across networks
- Finding new ways of problem-solving ability with Critical thinking.
- Imagination & Curiosity
- Agility & Adaptability
- Initiative & Entrepreneurialism
- Oral & written effective communication
- Accessing & analyzing information.
- Potential to lead by influence
- Working well as part of a team
- Time and People management
Skill Development in Schools
Schools in Nigeria, at large, adopt an academic-centric model of Education. For the most part in schools, the learning process is confined only to classrooms. In fact, this process is more about gaining facts & less about learning. The very best way to address this problem is to introduce life-changing skill training in the school-based curriculum. Giving them some options at the onset of teenage gives them the chance to explore & learn more things beyond their textbooks & whatever is taught in classrooms.
One more advantage of introducing Life skills to kids is that they get the freedom to choose at an early age. Skills like team spirit, inquisitiveness, creativity, trustworthiness, sympathy, coordination, assertiveness, and much more come with life skill activities. It is thus a process that helped children to build a stronger foundation for a thriving future on the academic as well as the professional front.
The Importance of Life Skills
In a constantly changing environment, having life skills is a basic part of being able to address the difficulties of regular day-to-day existence. The dramatic changes in global worldwide economies over the last decade have been coordinated with the change in innovation technology. All these are putting a greater impact on education, the working environment, and at our home life.
To be able to cope with the increasing pace and change of present-day life, students need to learn life skills, for example, the capacity to manage pressure and disappointment.
Benefits for the Student(s);
In regular day-to-day life, the development of life skills encourages students to:
- Take responsibility for what they do, instead of shifting blame.
- Build confidence in speaking skills, for group collaboration & cooperation with joint effort and participation.
- Analyze various alternatives, make decisions, and understand why they make certain specific decisions outside the classroom.
- Develop a greater sense of self-awareness, a feeling of mindfulness, and an appreciation for other people.
- The capacity to self-manage, and tackle issues while understanding individual responsibilities.
- Readiness and flexibility to various jobs in adaptable workplaces.
- Help them develop self-confidence & higher self-esteem.
- Give them a voice in their group, community, society & at schools.
- Enable them to make a positive contribution by developing experience & expertise within them.
- Prepare them for upcoming challenges, difficult situations as well as opportunities in their later life.
Benefits for Society;
The more we develop life skills individually, the more these benefit the world in which we live by recognizing cultural awareness and citizenship makes international cooperation easier with people of other societies, and respecting diversity allows creativity and imagination to flourish in a more developed society.
Vocational & life skills need to be encouraged. These factors are the reason that developing countries like Nigeria should invest in skill development for youth with proper education.
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