Page 62 - EW February 2023

Special Report

WHY SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL SKILLS LEARNING IS IMPORTANT

SEL improves as
children grow
older

Social-emotional
skills learning is
low across schools SEL reduces
peer abuse

Social Emotional
Learning (SEL)

Sankar: disquieting conclusions Improve SEL to Inter-
improve academic personal
on academic learning and don’t in- scores relationship
clude SEL in the curriculum,” says skills poor in
Dr. Vyjayanthi Sankar, founder all schools
and executive director of CSSL. Girl children
A highly qualified alumna of Ma- have better
dras University and Penn State Univer- SEL skills
sity, USA, where she was a Fulbright
Humphrey scholar, Sankar served for
over a decade (2003-14) as vice presi-
dent of the Ahmedabad-based Educa- Source: CASS 2022
tional Initiatives (EI) which provides a
range of student assessment services
to schools. Subsequently, seven years fered depression during the pandemic. This warning of massive socio-
ago she founded CSSL with the mis- Therefore it’s critical for schools and economic cost of ignoring SEL educa-
sion “to build capacity for high qual- teachers to accord high importance tion is endorsed by Dr. Hoi K. Suen,
ity assessments and research into the to developing children’s SEL skills. distinguished professor emeritus at
science of learning”. CSSL's clients In the contemporary age of advanced Pennsylvania State University, USA,
include the World Bank, Unicef, Tata digital technologies and remote learn- and an advisor to the CASS 2022
Trusts, Niti Aayog, several state gov- ing, widening distance between indi- study. “There is high degree of con-
ernments, government of Nepal and viduals living in the virtual world has sensus worldwide that cognitive and
Maldives and private school groups. further aggravated social distancing. social-emotional skills are important
Consequently, children and youth
for success in vocations and workplac-
A LTHOUGH THE CASS are experiencing multiplying mental es. While there are generally accepted
and emotional health problems with
age-appropriate cognitive skills for
field data was collected
prior to the pandemic
school closures, Sankar WHO (World Health Organisation) school children, definition of SEL is
elusive because these skills are often
listing depression as the second big-
believes that its findings are no less rel- gest killer of this decade, after cardiac culture-specific. CASS 2022 is prob-
evant today. Indeed she is convinced disease. In India 9.8 million teens in ably the first large-scale, comprehen-
that as the Covid virus infected people the age-group 13-17 years are suffering sive study of SEL skills tailored to
— especially elders — countrywide, mental health disorders. The national non-Western social values. The study
children suffered severe psychological crime records bureau reports that in is sophisticated in psychometric and
and SEL damage because of schools 2021, more than 13,000 students com- survey methodologies, and the find-
closure, lockdowns and social isola- mitted suicide in India. As millions ings are cogent and informative. It
tion. “Unicef’s State of the World’s of children with SEL deficit grow up provides important guidance for In-
Children 2021 says that one in every to enter the workforce the economic dian education policy formulators,”
seven children and youth in India suf- damage will be huge,” warns Sankar. says Suen.

62 EDUCATIONWORLD FEBRUARY 2023