Page 68 - EW February 2023

Special Report

PRIVATE SCHOOL STUDENTS COMPLAINTS

18.2%
36.9% Peers smoke/chew
47.7% Classmates don't tobacco
Schoolmates attend school
damage school regularly
property

60.5% 39.3%
Noisy during Classmates
classes report late

Source: CASS 2022

and moral sensibilities — “a critical
aspect of any student’s holistic de-
velopment”. NCERT’s new National
Curriculum Framework for School
Education (NCF), currently under
preparation, is expected to formally
incorporate SEL into primary-sec-
ondary curriculums.
E VEN AS NCERT EXPERTS

finalise NCF for K-12
education, they would be
well-advised to incorpo-
rate several excellent CASS 2022 rec-
ommendations into the framework
guidelines. Among them: according
equal status and attention to devel-
oping children’s SEL skills; enlisting
experts to build activities banks for
teachers to teach SEL skills; introduc- SEL class in Heritage Xperiential School, Gurugram
ing community service in curriculums
to inculcate civic responsibility and national and state curriculum guide- Alarming reports of an impercep-
citizenship values in children; pre- lines accord equal status and attention tible but ballooning mental health
paring teaching-learning materials to to SEL education by directing schools crisis spreading through the world’s
promote gender equality, respect for to allocate time, dedicated resources largest child and youth population
communal and caste diversity; and and teaching-learning materials to require urgent action not only from
inclusion of narratives promoting this important subject. The granular government but also school manage-
empathy/compassion in school cur- findings and action recommendation ments and teachers. The elaborate
riculums. of CASS 2022 if incorporated into CASS 2022 report (www.cssl.global)
“It’s a welcome development that in NCF guidelines will go a long way in and/or its 57-page summary provide
consonance with the United Nations equipping children with the social and useful information and suggestions
Sustainable Development Goals, NEP emotional skills they need to navigate for addressing this formidable post-
2020 has highlighted the importance the complex post-pandemic world,” pandemic challenge. It is recom-
mended reading for all educationists
of developing children’s SEL skills. says Vyjayanthi Sankar, executive di- and school leaders.
But, the turning point will be when rector of CSSL.

68 EDUCATIONWORLD FEBRUARY 2023