Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies,

Online ISSN 2278-8808, SJIF 2021 = 7.380, www.srjis.com

PEER REVIEWED & REFEREED JOURNAL, MAR-APR, 2022, VOL- 9/70

LIFE SKILLS KEY TO TRANSFORM STUDENTS’ WORLDVIEW:

INVESTIGATION OF LIFE SKILLS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL PUPILS

Mr. Pandurang Bhagwan Pandit1 & Shashikant Eknath Chavan2 Ph. D.

1
Research Scholar, Department of Education and Extension
Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra.
2
Research Guide, Department of Education and Extension
Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra.

Paper Received On: 25 APR 2022

Peer Reviewed On: 30 APR 2022
Published On: 1 MAY 2022

Abstract

The main goal of present study was to determine the current status of Life Skills in Secondary
School students and to also find out status of life skills with respect to gender. The current study is a
descriptive research study in which data from Secondary school students is gathered using survey
Method. Data was collected from 130 secondary school students from three different schools from
Pernem Taluka of North Goa district of State of Goa. The study's findings revealed that pupils have
average life skills overall, but poor thinking skills when compared to social and emotional skills.
When comparing the Life Skills of girls and boys, no differences were discovered.
Key words: Life Skills, Secondary school students, thinking Skills, Social Skill and Emotional Skills .
Scholarly Research Journal's is licensed Based on a work at www.srjis.com

1. Introduction
At the moment, India's educational system prioritises the acquisition of information,
knowledge, and technical skills over psychosocial competence and the fulfilling of one's
potential. It is more focused on achievement than on the child. It does not address the
requirements of all children who, regardless of their scholastic abilities, are capable of
learning and need to acquire those skills in order to survive effectively in this world. This is
despite the fact that ancient India's educational concept was Guru Chela/Shisya Parampara,
which highlighted the teacher's responsibility for the ward's literacy/knowledge as well as
personality development (Bharath & Kishore Kumar, 2008). The present scenario of
adolescents clearly shows that the condition of our youth has significantly deteriorated.
Recent studies show that there is significant rise in the problems faced by the adolescents for
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 Mr. Pandurang Bhagwan Pandit & Dr. Shashikant Eknath Chavan 16646
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example, serious emotional disturbances has increased (WHO, 2001), increased sexual
activity in schools, rise in AIDS cases in India & greater use of alcohol consumption has been
found (BSS, 2007). Apart from the above, use of heavy drugs and youth drop outs has also
increased in the recent years (UNICEF, 2001).
All these studies clearly illustrate the increase in aggressiveness, suicidal cases, drug
use, and depressive cases among adolescents. This gives us the clear image of the struggles
that adolescents go through, the problems they face. So providing an experience that would
strengthen adolescent’s coping abilities to counter environment al stress and disadvantages
with which they sometimes have to cope with while experiencing is an essential need.
The adolescent has to prepare for a global successful adult life of competition and
independent functioning which is possible only through enhancing their psychosocial
competencies through life skills training.(Vranda & Rao, 2011)
World health organisation defines like skill in terms of health perspective as Life
Skills are as abilities that support adaptive and positive behaviors that enable individuals to
deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life (WHO,1994). More
comprehensive definition of life skills is given by UNICEF which says Life skills are a set of
abilities, attitudes and socio-emotional competencies that enable individuals to learn, make
informed decisions and exercise rights to lead a healthy and productive life and subsequently
become agents of change (UNICEF, 2019). UNICEF’s Middle East and Northern Africa
(MENA) framework provides an all-encompassing definition that states development of life
skills as a process to be applied to various learning areas covering four dimensions: the
cognitive, the individual, the social and the instrumental. It is obvious from the preceding
definitions that the scope of Life skill training is expanding. Life skills’ training is no longer
limited to the development of health-related behaviors; it is now considered to be skills that
are used by everyone at every stage of life to efficiently and positively deal with daily
difficulties. The goals of education, and of a school, indisputably include building cognitive
abilities such as reading and math. Increasingly, however, it also implies that children should
be equipped with other abilities that allow them to succeed in and contribute to the society
they live in. We will broadly call such traits – such as communication, critical thinking,
creativity, self-management, decision-making, perseverance - life skills.(Singh & Menon,
2016)
Copyright © 2022, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies
 Mr. Pandurang Bhagwan Pandit & Dr. Shashikant Eknath Chavan 16647
(Pg. 16645-16651)

UNICEF, UNESCO and WHO list the ten core life skill as: problem solving, critical
thinking, effective communication skills, decision-making, creative thinking, interpersonal
relationship skills, self-awareness, building skills, empathy, and coping with stress and
emotions. Classification of Life Skills into different component is done differently by
different organisation. In Present research, researcher has used taxonomy of Life skills as per
(WHO (World Health Organization ), 1997). It is Classified as Thinking skill comprising
Critical thinking, Creative Thinking, Decision Making and Problem Solving , Social skill
comprising Empathy, Interpersonal relationship, Effective communication and Self and
Emotional management skill comprising Self-awareness, Coping with emotions, Coping with
stress.
1.1 Problem of Research
Adolescence, the second decade of life (10-19 years), is a period of rapid
development, when young people acquire new capacities and are faced with many new
situations that create not only opportunities for progress, but also risk to health and wellbeing
(World Health Organization, 1998). Life skills training had a considerable effect on mental
health parameters. Considering the significance of mental health in modern societies and
particularly in adolescents, it is of importance to incorporate these skills in school
curriculums and hold workshops for parents to improve the mental health of the adolescents.
(Jamali & Nia, 2016). As a result, the goal of this study is to determine the current state of
secondary school students' life skills so that appropriate strategies can be designed to enhance
the students' Life skills.
1.2 Research Focus
This research will be valuable in determining the current state of secondary school
students' life skills as well as differences in life skills based on gender. Furthermore, the
study's findings will provide researchers and instructors with a new perspective on
establishing programmes for students to improve their life skills in general, as well as by
taking gender into account, which will have a significant impact on the quality of life they
will live.

2. Method

Copyright © 2022, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

 Mr. Pandurang Bhagwan Pandit & Dr. Shashikant Eknath Chavan 16648
(Pg. 16645-16651)

The current study is a descriptive research study in which data from Secondary
school students is gathered using survey Method. The present status of Life Skills of
secondary school students was gathered using a Life skill Assessment Scale developed by A.
Radhakrishnan Nair, R.Subasree and Sunitha Ranjan. Data gathered was analyzed
statistically by using descriptive and inferential statistics.
2.1 Participants
Data was collected from 130 students in Standard IX, 65 girls and 65 boys, who were
chosen at random from three separate schools in Pernem Taluka, North Goa district, State of
Goa.
2.2 Data collection tools
Life skills Assessment Scale
Standardized Life skills assessment scale of A. Radhakrishnan Nair, R Subasree and
Sunitha Ranjan published by School of Life skills Education and Social Harmony, Rajiv
Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development supported by UNFPA was employed on
students of standard IX to determine status of their Life Skills. Life skill Assessment Scale
was constructed to assess the levels of life skills among Indian adolescents. The
multidimensional Life skills Assessment scale consist of 100 items in the form of statements
in built with a 5 point scale for the respondent to check the appropriate response which is
most descriptive of him/her viz, Always true of me, very true of me, sometimes true of me,
occasionally true of me and not at all true of me. The 100 item Life Skills Assessment Scale
measures ten (10) dimensions of Life Skills namely Self Awareness, Empathy, Effective
Communication, Interpersonal Relationship, Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, Decision-
making, Problem Solving, Coping with Emotions and Coping with Stress. Life skill
Assessment scale of 100 indicators had a Split half reliability coefficient of 0.82 and test-
retest of 0.91and Reliability coefficient Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.84.

3. Data Analysis
Copyright © 2022, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies
 Mr. Pandurang Bhagwan Pandit & Dr. Shashikant Eknath Chavan 16649
(Pg. 16645-16651)

Data gathered was analyzed statistically by using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Table No 1: Obtained mean for Various Life Skills and its interpretation as per Manual
for Life skill Assessment Scale
Sr. Life skills Interpretation given in Obtained Interpretation
No. LSAS Mean

Very High Above 48

High 44-48
1 Self-Awareness Average 34-43 39.91 Average
Low 29-33
Very Low Below 29
Very High Above 51 Average
High 46-51
2 Empathy Average 36-45 40.31
Low 30-35
Very Low Below 30

Very High Above 40 Average

High 36-40
3 Effective Average 26-35 33.24
Communication Low 20-25
Very Low Below 20
Very High Above 49 Average
High 45-49 40.09
4 Interpersonal Average 35-44
Relationship Low 30-34
Very Low Below 30
Very High Above 38
High 35-38
5 Creative Thinking Average 26-34 22.53 Low
Low 20-25
Very Low Below 20
Very High Above 52
High 48-52
6 Critical Thinking Average 36-47 29.95 Very Low
Low 30-35
Very Low Below 30
Very High Above 48
High 44-48 29.5
7 Decision Making Average 34-43 Low
Low 28-33
Very Low Below 28
Very High Above 45
High 41-45
8 Problem Solving Average 31-40 23.32 Low
Low 25-30
Very Low Below 25
Very High Above 47 Average
High 43-47
Average 32-42

Copyright © 2022, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

 Mr. Pandurang Bhagwan Pandit & Dr. Shashikant Eknath Chavan 16650
(Pg. 16645-16651)

9 Coping with Emotions Low 26-31 40

Very Low Below 26
Very High Above 35 Average
High 31-35 29.5
10 Coping with stress Average 22-30
Low 16-21
Very Low Below 16

Very High Above

417 328.24
Overall Score High 387- 417 Average
Average 325-386
Low 293-324
Very Low Below
293

Table 1 shows that students have average life skills in general. Students received an
average score for most of the Life skill components, such as self-awareness, empathy,
effective communication, interpersonal relationships, coping with emotions, and coping with
stress, but scores on critical thinking, creative thinking, decision making, and problem
solving were low.
Table No. 02: Life Skills scores of Girls and Boys of standard IX
Life Skill Variables Mean Variance t Stat t Critical P(T<=t)
two-tail two-tail
Thinking Skills Girls 105.81 170.99 0.44 1.98 0.66
Boys 104.81 168.12
Social Skills Girls 114.66 173.10 0.89 1.98 0.37
Boys 112.63 161.92
Self and Emotional Girls 111.01 163.23 1.49 1.98 0.13
Management skills Boys 107.83 132.83

Table No.O2 shows that there is no significant difference in the Life skills such as
Thinking skills, Emotional Skills and Self and Emotional Management skills of Girls and
Boys.
4. Results
Students have average life skills in general. Students received an average score for
most of the Life skill components, such as self-awareness, empathy, effective
communication, interpersonal relationships, coping with emotions, and coping with stress,
but scores on critical thinking, creative thinking, decision making, and problem solving were

Copyright © 2022, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

 Mr. Pandurang Bhagwan Pandit & Dr. Shashikant Eknath Chavan 16651
(Pg. 16645-16651)

low. It was also seen that there was no difference in the Life Skills: Thinking, Social and
Emotional skills of Girls and Boys.
Discussion
According to data collected from pupils in standard IX, they have an average Life
Skill, namely Social and Emotional Skill. They do, however, exhibit poor critical thinking,
creative thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving skills. More emphasis should be
placed on developing pupils' thinking skills when developing methods. Teachers should make
an effort to incorporate these abilities into the subjects they teach. Conduct activities in their
topic to build critical thinking, creative thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving
skills, as well as other skills including social and emotional skills.
References
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education approach for adolescents in schools - development of a model. Journal of
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Jamali, S., & Nia, H. S. (2016). The Effect of Life Skills Training on Mental Health of
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Singh, B. D., & Menon, R. (2016). Life Skills Education in India An Overview of
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UNICEF. (2019). Comprehensive Life Skills Framework.
https://www.unicef.org/india/reports/comprehensive-life-skills-framework
Vranda, M. N., & Rao, M. C. (2011). Life skills education for young adolescents -
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