Delhi to conduct survey to understand pandemic impact on school children

In order to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological and emotional behaviour of school children, the Delhi government has decided to conduct a large-scale survey, said Delhi Deputy CM and Education Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday.

According to a press release, the government said, "Being away from schools for a long time is leading to mental stress and fear among them. To understand this situation and to investigate the effects on children's mental and emotional state during COVID, the Kejriwal government is going to conduct a large-scale survey."

On the basis of the findings of this survey and recommendations of experts on the same, Delhi's famous 'Happiness Curriculum' will be updated, so that the mental and emotional well-being of school-going children can be taken care of. In this regard, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia gave instructions to the concerned officials on Friday.

In a statement, he said, ''This is for the first time that such a survey is being conducted. Along with children, the study will also focus on analyzing the changes in parenting style, psychological and emotional state of parents, as children have spent most of their time during lockdown with them, in the past two years. Along with students and parents, teachers have also seen many changes in their routine and teaching styles. This survey will analyze this aspect too."

''Happiness Curriculum has played an important role in maintaining mental and emotional wellbeing of students studying in our schools. With the help of this study and help from experts, we will modify the Happiness curriculum by introducing new chapters, stories and activities, so that students can learn to be stress-free in challenging situations like a pandemic," Sisodia added.