Happiness Curriculum

Happiness Curriculum
Ongoing Happiness Class in a primary school in Delhi
Type of projectCurriculum
LocationDelhi
OwnerGovernment of Delhi
CountryIndia
Established2 July 2018 (2018-07-02)
StatusActive

Happiness Curriculum is an educational program for children studying in nursery to grade eight in schools run by the Government of Delhi since July 2018. The objective is to improve the mental well-being of pupils, and it teaches mindfulness, social-emotional learning, critical thinking, problem solving, and relationship building. Its purpose is to build emotional awareness, to support decision making with that emotional awareness, to equip pupils with the necessary skills and environment to become purpose-driven, and explore a nuanced idea of happiness. The introduction of the curriculum into government schools of Delhi has been called a reformative step towards school education in India.

The idea for the curriculum was laid out by Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia, who is also the education minister of the state. It was developed with the help of government experts and the State Council of Educational Research and Training. The curriculum is mostly based on the "Happiness Triad" concept of philosopher Agrahar Nagraj Sharma.

Taking inspiration from the curriculum, Indian states Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and Afghanistan, Nepal, and the United Arab Emirates are preparing to implement similar programs. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and a subsequent nationwide lockdown in India, the curriculum is being delivered to pupils and their parents via interactive voice response calls and live YouTube classes.