Life Skills are the basic skills which help individuals make informed decisions, solve problems that they encounter in their day to day life, think critically, communicate effectively and build healthy relationships with one self and the surroundings.
These are the skills which help an individual make the most out of their lives.
These skills are essential for successful life and a healthy society.
There are various skills which are important to face the different challanges of life, however in 1999 the World Health Organization identified six areas of life skills which are as follows
- Resilience
- Self-awareness and empathy
- Assertiveness
- Creative thinking and critical thinking
- Communication and interpersonal skills
- Decision making and problem solving
All these skills are important for the growth of an individual. It is easy to understand that different skills are required during different situations in life, however all of them hold equal significance. Join Safalta School Online to learn from our experts.
Why Are Life Skills Important
Life Skills ensure an overall development of children and provide tools to help children deal with the different challanges they face in their day to day life.
These life skills ensure that children know how to manage their emotions, make informed decisions, learn about onself and the society.
Life skills also help develop children's traits and talents, mental and physical abilities, and realise their true potential in life.
These are an essential tool for survival and quality life.
Acquiring knowledge from an academic environment is important but life skills teach children the significance of living together.
Having these life skills is important for individuals as citizens of nation states because then the citizens have the competency to understand their rights and duties, make decisions regarding choosing their leaders, remain informed about social and political issues, articulate their opinions and arguments and also inculcate responsibility. Citizens play an active role in the development of society. Thus it is necessary that citizens have these life skills to ensure that they understand their relationships with their surrounding and the impact they have on the same.
When children are taught these life skills when young, then their transition into productive adulthood is easy. Children learn to deal with their emotions, practice positivism, feel empathy, improve self-esteem, learn to set personal boundary, handle disputes well, can create a balance beween demands and priorities, set goals, communicate effectively, and learn to bounce back from adversity.
As per UNICEF's Basic Skills Curriculum developed in close collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Azerbaijan, youth would be imparted life skills under the following three categories:
Having these life skills is important for individuals as citizens of nation states because then the citizens have the competency to understand their rights and duties, make decisions regarding choosing their leaders, remain informed about social and political issues, articulate their opinions and arguments and also inculcate responsibility. Citizens play an active role in the development of society. Thus it is necessary that citizens have these life skills to ensure that they understand their relationships with their surrounding and the impact they have on the same.
When children are taught these life skills when young, then their transition into productive adulthood is easy. Children learn to deal with their emotions, practice positivism, feel empathy, improve self-esteem, learn to set personal boundary, handle disputes well, can create a balance beween demands and priorities, set goals, communicate effectively, and learn to bounce back from adversity.
As per UNICEF's Basic Skills Curriculum developed in close collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Azerbaijan, youth would be imparted life skills under the following three categories:
- Self- Awareness - knowing and living with oneself
- Interpersonal Skills - knowing and living with others
- Thinking Skills- making effective decisions
There were further various skills incorprated under these categories to ensure that the youth learnt properly:
| Self-Awareness | Interpersonal Skills | Thinking Skills |
| 1.Stress management 2.Emotional regulation 3. Positive thinking 4. Self-esteem |
5.
Empathy 6. Listening skills 7.Interpersonal effectiveness 8. Handling disputes 9. Managing relation- ships 10.Confident communication |
11.
Goal setting 12. Decision making 13. Problem solving 14. Critical and creative thinking 15. Executive function skills 16. Resilience (bouncing back from adversity) |
Thus ensuring that children learn these skills is very important. Knowledge of these skills is important to the growth of individuals and decide how people interact with themselves and the society. There should be constant effort to ensure that children learn these life skills and are aware. Even as adults, we can learn these skills for our growth as they always help us in different scenarios. Learning and practicing these skills is very essential for our growth.
