Life skills have been recognized as core skills that can help young people navigate the challenges of everyday life and are considered an essential prerequisite for their healthy, positive and productive development (Seth 2000; Jacobs Foundation 2011). Life skills affect the self-esteem and self-confidence of individuals, consequently influencing their interpersonal relationships and productivity (Tinnari 1998). Life skills have been defined by the WHO (1994) as āthe abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday lifeā (p. 1). From this perspective, life skills are essentially those abilities that help to promote mental well-being and competency in young people as they face the realities of life. At times also referred to as living skills , they denote the personal competencies that enable persons to confront and deal effectively with lifeās everyday challenges and demands (Yarham et al. 1999; Mangrulkar et al. 2001).
Core set of life skill areas identified by WHO ( 1994 ) for promotion of health and well-being of youth are:
- Decision-making and problem-solving;
- Creative thinking and critical thinking;
- Communication and interpersonal skills;
- Self-awareness and empathy; and
- Coping with emotions and stress.
Life skills promotion has been recognized as a vital resource for enhancing positive and productive development in youth ( Jacobs Foundation 2011). Developing adolescentsā life skills equips them to face daily problems and challenges that mainly relate to their educational choices, health, sexuality and relationships (UNESCO 2000). Life skills education (LSE) is an effective tool for empowering adolescents to make informed decisions and to plan and set realistic goals. LSE helps boost adolescentsā self-confidence , improves their self-esteem and influences the way individuals feel about themselves and others and the way they think others perceive them. LSE enhances adolescentsā social sensitivity, making them aware of social problems and realities (UNFPA 2000a) and can result in individuals making informed choices to serve the interests of self and others, becoming āproactiveā and change agents. Life skills thus enable youth to develop into healthy, responsible and productive adults.
India has the largest youth population in the world, with more than 66% of the total population (more than 808 million) below the age of 35 (ILO n.d.). Indiaās population cohort is considered to be in the midst of a youth bulge and by 2020 India will be the youngest country in the world, with a median age of 29 (UNFPA 2000b). The youth bulge represents both a challenge and an opportunity, as young people either can be an impetus or a deterrent in economic and social development processes of society (Urdal 2007) by the skill sets they possess. Youth development is hence considered a crucial precursor for improving peopleās quality of life and ensuring sustainable development . However, the burgeoning youth population of India faces multiple challenges that hamper their development and their productive contribution to the economy. If India is to leverage the advantages of the demographic dividend, it is critically important to invest in a holistic development by building their skills, capacities and agency (UNFPA 2014) in a manner that removes inequities, augments inclusiveness and equal opportunities to all the youth (IIPS and Population Council 2010; UNFPA 2014). Life skills education is an important vehicle to equip young people to negotiate and mediate challenges and risks in their lives, and to enable productive participation in society (UNICEF 2012).
Positive Youth Development
Youth development is conceptualized in three different ways: as a natural process through which youth grow into adults; as a set of principles underlying youth programmes that encourage thriving among youth; or as a set of practices that foster the development of young people (Hamilton et al. 2004). Positive youth development (PYD) generally refers to a focus on the developmental characteristics that lead to positive outcomes and behaviours among young people and emphasizes the interplay of internal and external factors that help young people to lead successful lives into young adulthood. The PYD concept moves ahead of earlier approaches focusing on problems and deficits among young people and advocates a holistic conceptualization for evolving robust youth development strategies. Operationalized in a variety of ways, PYD is an all-inclusive framework that provides guidance in the organization of services, opportunities and supports to young people so that they can develop to their full potential (Lerner et al. 2005b). Positive youth development includes intentional efforts of other youth, adults, communities, schools, NGOs and other stakeholders to provide opportunities for youth to enhance their interests, skills and abilities (Hamilton et al. 2004). It emphasizes the importance of using a youth-centered approach to youth development and building positive meaningful relationships by working with and engaging young people in a youth-friendly way that respects youth and promotes their dignity (Iwasaki 2015; Ersing 2009; Yohalem and Martin 2007). Being rounded in its approach, PYD focuses not only on enhancing positive outcomes and a decrease of dysfunctional outcomes at the individual level but also improving the settings and contexts of youthsā daily lives in which these outcomes occur (Iwasaki 2015). Small and Memmo (2004) highlight key assumptions on which the PYD approach is based: (a) youth are less likely to experience problems in achieving their full potential; (b) supports and opportunities are important to success for young people; (c) communities are critical shapers of youth development and can improve their capacity to build successful young people; and (d) youth need to be viewed as resources and in a positive light.
Positive youth development encompasses psychological, behavioural and social characteristics that are reflected in the Five Cs : competence, confidence, connection, character and caring/compassion (Zarrett and Lerner 2008). A young person who develops each of these Five Cs is considered to be thriving or holistically developed. Also, these youth develop a sixth āCā: contribution (to self, family, community and civil society) (Lerner et al. 2005a). These competencies, also referred to as life skills, form the core abilities that can help youth meet challenges and function well in the environments in which they live. Thus, a core outcome of youth development is concerned with helping youth become competent in the life skills that will prepare them for transition to adulthood.
Relevance of Life Skills Education
Life skills are effectively developed by good quality formal or non-formal education. However, due to a rapid erosion of the influence of traditional mechanismsāthe family and other cultural factors that extended support to individuals in managing the challenges of everyday lifeāhuge shortcomings have emerged. Even where that support exists, it is becoming increasingly irrelevant in todayās fast-changing cultures and lifestyles and the barr...