Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday announced the introduction of a "happiness curriculum" in Delhi's Government schools from the coming academic session.
The "happiness curriculum" is ready and it will be launched by the Dalai lama on July 2, Sisodia said.
"The curriculum will be taught to around eight lakh students from nursery up to Class VIII students of all the Delhi Government schools from July," Sisodia said. The final draft of the curriculum was approved at a meeting chaired by Sisodia on Wednesday, who is also the Education Minister in the Kejriwal Government.
The curriculum will include meditation, moral values and mental exercises and its core idea is to produce "sarvagun sampann" (versatile) "professionals and human beings who could serve the society with happiness", the Deputy CM said.
He also said it will be a revolution in the history of Indian education and children will greatly benefit with the introduction of the initiative. "After ten years or more, these children will become professionals like doctors and engineers filled with happiness and serve the society," he said.
Citing his visit to Harvard University, Sisodia said the authorities there told him that they were running "happiness" courses but that they were not as large as what the Delhi Government was planning for its 1000 schools, having eight lakh students.
He said work was started on the curriculum from January this year and a team of 35-40 experts worked on it.
According to World Happiness Report 2017, India stands at an abysmally low at 122 out of 155 countries. The report stressed the need to have a 'Happiness Curriculum' in schools for creating a happy environment from early childhood.
Earlier this year, the Delhi Government had formed a team of experts, including school teachers and principals to prepare a framework for the happiness curriculum for its schools.