Life Skills

Impact of CMCA Programmes in Developing Life Skills in the Young

Life skills are understood as psychosocial abilities that help every child, adolescent, youth and adult reach their full potential, and contribute positively to the development of self, family, community, and society if applied in their daily lives. Life skills are adaptive and positive behaviours, and enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.

CMCA’s citizenship education has a positive impact on life skills development.

OUTCOMES – Select stories on Life skills development

The CMCA curriculum gives young people the tools to gain crucial life skills on their journey to becoming concerned, thinking and Active Citizens. In fact, we even see Active Citizenship itself as a life skill.

The key life skills we focus on are Empathy and Critical Thinking, although our programmes also have a positive impact on skills such as Creative Thinking, Effective Communication, Problem Solving, and Interpersonal Relationships (including Team Work). Below, read some stories that highlight life skills gained and used by our young CMCA members.

Empathy

Surya J. of class 8 from Bengaluru, was playing with his friends near his house. Other children in the group began beating up a snake that had strayed onto the playground. Surya and one of his friends came to its rescue and explained to the children that the snake would feel pain, just as they would if beaten. The young students were not only empathetic to the helpless animal, but were confident to stand up to their peers who bullied it. Eventually, the snake was rescued and put back into the lake.
Shashikumar and his friends saw that their school was not kept clean by their fellow students, which made the job of the school’s support staff that much more difficult. In an attempt to do their bit and help the support staff, they cleaned the school ground, and collected litter and other waste from the school premises.
Thejuraja is a class 7 student from Bengaluru and a habitual absentee. Bharath, Sachin, and Vikram went to Thejuraja’s house. Having thought about the negative impact of missing school and not attaining a proper education, they spoke to him about the mistake he was making, and how it will spoil his future. They visited again with their teachers, Mrs Sunitha and Mrs Girija, to convince him further. He has now returned to school and has promised to be regular and focus on his studies.

Critical Thinking

Aishwarya, Akshata, and Anjum of BVK Girls High School, Hubbali-Dharwad, understood that waste management is everybody’s responsibility and is not just the responsibility of the local municipal corporation. Seeing that their school had an opportunity to improve waste management practices, they decided to get involved and make a difference. The three students convinced the management to take action by making a compost pit and even suggested how the compost can be put to use in the school garden in good time. The school Principal welcomed the idea, put into practice segregation of garbage and introduced a compost pit. The act of the children spread ripples of awareness on the advantages of efficient waste management.
Sira Taluk in the Tumkur district in Karnataka has encountered severe drought leading to farmer suicides and families of the deceased struggling to get even one meal per day. According to experts, one of the key reasons for drought has been deforestation. Members of our Chiguru Youth Club have been committed to restoring the green cover and recently planted 1000 seed balls of local plants and trees in the Talagunda Hills. Instead of indiscriminately planting saplings, they sought the help of the forest department and ensured that the seed balls planted were indigenous and essential for local soil health. In addition, they resorted to planting seed balls rather than saplings which have proven to be more effective.

Problem Solving and Team Work

A group of class 8 students (Rahul, Thasmiya, Kavvya, Kamal, Sangeetha, Tharun, Praddep, Jeenath, Priyanka, and Sudheer) from Bengaluru were aware that different residents of their neighbourhood faced different problems. After talking to auto drivers, local businessmen and other people in the neighbourhood, they listed down the problems faced by each of them. They worked as a team, and put their heads together to find the best way to identify community issues and seek solutions. They have written to the local Corporator about the issues they identified, seeking immediate redressal.
Ummehani M. from Bengaluru noticed a garbage pile near her house. She brought it to the notice of the area’s Municipal Sanitation Worker, who swiftly cleaned the pile. However, the problem persisted as people continued to throw waste there. Ummehani then called the BBMP helpline and raised her concerns. The BBMP promised action within 24 hours and acted on it. Now the place is clean. The student was happy that she was able to solve this issue with the help of the ‘helpline numbers’ sheet provided by CMCA.

All names in these stories have been changed to protect the identity of the child.

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Accreditation by Credibility Alliance

CMCA has been accredited by Credibility Alliance under the category “Desirability Norms” – for good governance, accountability, transparency and continuous improvements. Credibility Alliance is a consortium of voluntary organisations committed to enhancing accountability and transparency in the voluntary sector through good governance.