Effectiveness of life skills training among university students

Pages:66-70
R. Subasree (Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of youth Development, Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu)

Life skill is the positive behaviour. In a general way life skill means a mix of knowledge, behaviour, attitudes and values and designates the possession of some skills and know-how to do something, or reach an aim. Child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) can be defined as (WHO, 2005) the capacity to achieve and maintain optimal psychological functioning and well being. It is directly related to the level reached and competence achieved in psychological and social functioning. The first part of this definition views CAMH as a positive dimension seen as a resource that is essential to subjective well-being and to our ability to perceive, comprehend and interpret our surroundings, to adapt to them or change them if necessary and to communicate with each other and have successful social interactions. [Lehtinen et al.,( 2005)]. The research review indicates that linkages to education as concerns encompass the direct promotion of capabilities through skills-based teaching and learning. The current study looks more specifically on how this notion of the Capability Approach is increasingly reflected in personality development in particular in the form of life skills education. Building on more than a decade of research and various studies by countries and agencies in the field of life skills education, it also summarizes some core characteristics that might help define more effective implementation. Life skills training refer to the interactive process of teaching competencies through a set of structural activities, such as role play, games and debates (Fisher, 2005). There is an interactive loop in the process of acquiring life skills that involves demonstration and practice, self-assessment, supportive and constructive feedback, and follow-up practice sessions. Life skills include Decision making, Problem solving, Creative thinking, Effective communication, Interpersonal relations, Self awareness, the ability to communicate with empathy, coping with emotions, stress management, conflict resolution, the ability to act assertively in responding to problems, the capacity to perceive goal-directed behaviour, and the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of one’s actions and pursue other positions if necessary (Fisher, 2005). The present investigation was carried out to study the effect of life skills training programme among youth studying in final year P.G. A pre-post quasi experimental group design was adopted. Data was collected from a sample of 52 students who are final year P.G students. They were assigned randomly into two groups. The number of students in each group was 26 and 26 respectively. The Life Skills Training programme focused on group interactive sessions. The training programme duration was for 7 days with a follow-up study. The quantitative and qualitative analyses were carried out to test the research questions. The t’ test, correlation, and regression analysis were utilized for the current study. The study found that Life Skills Training programme had a significant influence on the level of aspiration. There was significant influence of Training programme among students on Life Skills.